G7 to phase out coal-fired power plants by mid-2030s May 2, 2024

The mid-2030s phase-out agreed upon by G7 ministers has been described as "too little too late" by environmentalists © Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

By AFP - Agence France Presse

G7 to phase out coal-fired power plants by mid-2030s

Turin (Italy) (AFP) - G7 ministers agreed Tuesday to phase out coal-fired power plants, setting a target of the mid-2030s, in a move hailed as significant by some environmentalists but criticized as "too late" by others.

The two-day meeting of the Group of Seven in Turin was the first major political session since the world pledged at the annual UN climate summit COP28 in Dubai in December to abandon coal, oil, and gas.

The G7 pledged to "phase out existing and uninterrupted coal-fired power generation in our energy systems during the first half of the 2030s", according to the final declaration by the energy and climate ministers.

However, the declaration left some room for maneuver, saying that nations could follow "a schedule consistent with maintaining a temperature increase limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius within range, by countries' net zero pathways".

It also preserved a place for coal power if it is "scaled down", i.e. if its emissions are captured or limited by technology, something that many consider unproven and a distraction from reducing the use of fossil fuels.

The G7 brings Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US together.

Negotiations on a fixed date were complicated. Some countries, and many environmentalists, were pushing for a limit by 2030, but Japan - which relies heavily on coal - was reluctant to set a date.

The leaders of the G7 countries will produce their declaration after a summit in southern Italy in June.

"What about gas?

In the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial times, with a safer limit of 1.5°C if possible.

To keep the 1.5ºC limit in place, the UN panel of climate experts said that emissions need to be cut by almost half this decade, but they continue to rise.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that to reach net zero emissions by 2050 - a key milestone in limiting global warming - advanced economies must end all coal-fired power generation by 2030.

The Italian Minister for the Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, said that the negotiations had been "intense", but showed that the G7 had "understood" climate change.

Luca Bergamaschi, from the Italian climate think tank ECCO, said that the G7 had taken a "decisive step" by translating the Dubai agreement into national policies.

The World Resources Institute hailed the commitment as "a beacon of hope for the rest of the world".

But Oil Change International said the G7 had "failed" its first post-COP28 test, while policy institute Climate Analytics noted "2035 is too late".

"Many of these countries have already publicly committed to phase-out dates before 2030 and in any case have only a small amount of coal capacity," said Jane Ellis of Climate Analytics.

She also pointed out that it is "remarkable that gas has not been mentioned", despite being the biggest source of the global increase in CO2 emissions over the last decade.

Germany - Europe's biggest greenhouse gas emitter - is not willing to get rid of gas, as is G7 host Italy, which is investing in new domestic gas installations.

'Able to contribute'

The G7 ministers said they will increase battery storage "by more than six times" by 2030, to support electricity grids powered by renewable energy sources.

They also tackled the thorny issue of plastic pollution amid heated debate on how best to draw up a treaty to combat this scourge.

Today, plastic waste is found everywhere, from mountain peaks to the bottom of the ocean and in human blood and breast milk.

In general terms, the debate is between focusing on reducing production or increasing recycling.

The ministers said they "aspire" to reduce and, if necessary, restrict global plastic production and renewed their commitments to end plastic pollution by 2040.

Climate watchers are pushing for more funding for climate change adaptation and energy systems for developing countries, and all eyes will be on the G7 finance ministers' meeting at the end of May.

The ministers in Turin emphasized that efforts to raise money to help poorer countries deal with climate change must include "countries that can contribute".

According to a UN climate treaty signed in 1992, only a few high-income countries that dominated the global economy at the time were obliged to pay for climate finance - not including China, which has since become richer and is now the world's biggest polluter.

"By making it clear that we were asking other countries to contribute, we want China to join us in this direction," Franck Riester, the minister representing France on climate issues, told AFP.

© 2024 AFP