SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — Energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations vowed Sunday to work to hasten the shift toward cleaner, renewable energy, but set no timetable for phasing out coal-fired power plants as they wrapped up two days of talks within the northern Japanese city of Sapporo.
The officials issued a 36-page communique laying out their commitments ahead of a G-7 summit in Hiroshima in May.
Japan won endorsements from fellow G-7 countries for its own national strategy emphasizing so-called clean coal, hydrogen and nuclear energy to assist ensure its energy security.
“Recognizing the present global energy crisis and economic disruptions, we reaffirm our commitment to accelerating the clean energy transition to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 at the most recent,” the communique says.
The leaders reiterated the necessity to urgently reduce carbon emissions and achieve a “predominantly decarbonized power sector” by 2035.
“We call on and can work with other countries to finish latest unabated coal-fired power generation projects globally as soon as possible to speed up the clean energy transition in a just manner,” the document says.
The stipulation that countries depend on “predominantly” clean energy by 2035 leaves room for the continuation of fossil-fuel-fired power. However the ministers agreed to prioritize steps toward phasing out “unabated” coal power generation — plants that don’t employ mechanisms to capture emissions and forestall them from escaping into the atmosphere.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said the meetings were “really constructive.”
“I feel the unity for the goal that was expressed of phasing out unabated fossil fuels is an important statement,” Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The decision to motion comes as China and other developing countries step up demands for more assist in phasing out fossil fuels and stabilizing energy prices and supplies amid disruptions from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The difficulty of setting a timeline for phasing out coal-fired power plants is a longstanding sticking point. Japan relies on coal for nearly one-third of its power generation and can also be promoting using so-called clean coal, using technology to capture carbon emissions, to provide hydrogen — which produces only water when used as fuel.
The G-7 nations account for 40% of the world’s economic activity and 1 / 4 of worldwide carbon emissions. Their actions are critical, but so is their support for less wealthy nations often suffering the worst effects of climate change while having the fewest resources for mitigating such impacts.
Emissions in advanced economies are falling, though historically they’ve been higher — the USA alone accounts for a few quarter of historic global carbon emissions — while emerging markets and developing economies now account for greater than two-thirds of worldwide carbon emissions.
The president-designate for the following United Nations climate talks, the COP28, who was also attending the talks in Sapporo, issued a press release urging G-7 nations to extend financial support for developing countries’ transitions to scrub energy.
Sultan Al Jaber urged fellow leaders to assist deliver a “latest deal” on climate finance to spice up efforts to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and help protect biodiversity, especially in developing nations.
“We must make a fairer deal for the Global South,” he said. “Not enough is attending to the people and places that need it most.”
He said developed countries must follow through on a $100 billion pledge they made on the 2009 COP15 meeting. The subsequent talks are to be held in Dubai in late November.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a joint statement saying “We remain very concerned that funding provided by developed countries continues to fall in need of the commitment of $100 billion per yr.”
Lula met with Xi in Beijing on Friday.
Economic development is the primary defense against climate change, Bhupender Yadav, India’s environment minister, said in a tweet.
“The worldwide goal of reaching net zero by 2050 needs enhanced emission descaling by developed nations,” Yadav said, to permit the space for countries like India to develop their economies, the most effective defense against the impacts of climate change, environmental degradation and pollution.”
The document crafted in Sapporo included significant amounts of nuance to permit for differences between the G-7 energy strategies, climate advocates said.
“They put out daring language on the urgency of addressing the climate crisis but the actual test is what are they saying to the remainder of the world about their commitments to scale up ambitions,” Alden Meyer, a senior associate at E3G, a climate change think tank, said in a Twitter spaces session just after the communique was released.
But while other G-7 countries prevented Japan from expanding loopholes to permit wider use of fossil fuels, the commitments “fall in need of the clarion call to motion that was needed,” Meyer said.
While the G-7 energy and environment ministers were wrapping up their meetings in Sapporo, farther south within the mountain city of Karuizawa G-7 foreign ministers were grappling with other shared concerns including regional security and the war in Ukraine.
The war has complicated efforts to change to renewable energy by disrupting trade in oil and gas and pushing prices sharply higher. And it has to finish for a lot of reasons.
“It’s insane and tragic,” Kerry said, but phasing out carbon emissions can and must proceed.
“I feel energy security is being exaggerated in some cases,” Kerry said, pointing to Germany’s progress in embracing renewable energy.
