30 April 2024

G7 agrees to phase-out coal but falls short of climate alignment

TORINO, 30 April, 2024 — The environment, climate, and energy ministers of the Group of Seven western industrialised states (G7) have committed to phase-out coal power ‘during the first half of the 2030s’, in the outcomes of their summit in Torino presented today. It marks the first explicit reference from the group to phase-out coal, but notably omits the crucial 2030 deadline for coal phase-out, and 2035 cut-off for gas power, as recommended by both the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) [1], opting instead for a vague reference to the first half of the 2030s, in an apparent attempt to coax a coal exit commitment from Japan.

Although this commitment falls short of phasing out coal by 2030 – the science-based date by which all wealthy nations must exit coal to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees – it is a big step forward for Japan, the only G7 country without a coal phase-out date and previously a blocker to G7 commitments on phasing-out coal. All other G7 countries, such as the UK, France, Italy and Canada are still firmly committed to phasing-out coal no later than 2030, or in the case of the U.S. and Germany, are taking major steps towards this date. Now other OECD countries need to build on this leadership to ensure all wealthy nations align with the level of ambition that climate science says is required,” said Pieter de Pous, Program Lead at E3G’s Coal to Clean programme.

The task at hand is to phase-out coal by 2030, and gas power by 2035, in order to achieve the G7’s goal of “fully or predominately” decarbonising its power sectors by 2035. Sixteen European countries have either already exited coal or have committed to do so by 2030, and ten have committed to move their power systems away from fossil fuels by 2035 or sooner. Of the G7 member countries, the UK will stop burning coal this year, and France and Italy have pledged to follow suit by 2027. G7 ministers need to lead by example and align their commitments with reality and the urgency of the climate crisis,” said Claire Smith, Senior International Campaigner at Beyond Fossil Fuels.

END

Contacts

Alastair Clewer, Senior Communications Manager, Beyond Fossil Fuels
[email protected], +49 176 433 07 185

Claire Smith, Senior International Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels
[email protected], +45 60 72 81 74

Notes

  1. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) both recommend that no new unabated coal power plants be built, and that coal power is phased-out by 2030 in wealthy countries and by 2040 elsewhere. 
  2. The IEA was commissioned by the G7 to detail what G7 countries need to do to keep the world on a 1.5 degree pathway. The 2021 report clearly outlines that G7 countries need to phase-out unabated coal power by 2030, and adopt a net-zero electricity sector by 2035. This is aligned with what the IPCC set out in their latest set of 1.5 degree-aligned scenarios. 
  3. The G7 reaffirmed its commitment to a decarbonised power sector by 2035 in its Sapporo Communiqué of 16 April 2023.  
  4. Ten EU nations, representing over sixty percent of the bloc’s electricity generation capacity have committed to move their power systems away from fossil fuels by 2035 or sooner, with four of those explicitly pledging to replace coal and fossil gas with renewables. 
  5. Overview of national coal phase-out commitments in Europe.
  6. Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting Communiqué (Torino, April 29-30, 2024) 

About 

Beyond Fossil Fuels is a collective civil society campaign committed to ensuring all of Europe’s electricity is generated from fossil-free, renewable energy by 2035. It expands and builds upon the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, and its goal of a coal-free Europe in power and heat by 2030 at the latest. www.beyondfossilfuels.org

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