France: G7 wants faster phase-out of dirty fossil fuels

The G7, a group of seven wealthy nations, agreed to accelerate the burning of fossil fuels without measures to curb CO2 emissions. French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher made the announcement at a ministerial meeting in Sapporo, Japan.

The agreements concern the phasing out of coal-fired power plants that do not control their own CO2 emissions by capturing and storing greenhouse gases. The G7 could not agree on a deadline for a complete ban on coal, the most polluting fuel. But according to Pannier-Runachar, the committee agrees that no new coal-fired power plants should be added. According to the French woman, the G7 also calls for the rapid installation of solar panels, wind farms or other sources of renewable energy.

A group consisting of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and France consider themselves pioneers in the transition to cleaner energy sources. Agreements between those countries could influence further international negotiations on the fight against climate change.

Members of the G7 have been criticized for supporting more fossil fuel projects without countermeasures to curb emissions. For example, Japanese development banks pledged hundreds of millions of euros to build a gas-fired power plant in Uzbekistan. All of Germany and Italy’s public spending on fossil energy is falling short of their environmental promises, according to environmental group Oil Change International.

According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the G7 is working on a plan to ensure members can get enough of critical raw materials for the energy transition, such as lithium and nickel for batteries. For this they want to release more than 6.7 billion euros.