The G7 has agreed to phase out coal-fired power plants during 'the first half of [the] 2030s', according to an official communique.
The statement included an alternative goal of phasing out coal-fired power plants "in a timeline consistent with keeping a limit of a 1.5 C temperature rise within reach, in line with countries' net-zero pathways", as reported by Reuters.
Diplomatic sources told the publication that the caveat was included in the final wording of the communique to grant room for maneuver to Germany and Japan, whose coal-fired plants produce more than one-fourth of their total electricity.
Germany has written into its legislation a final target to shut coal plants by 2038 at the latest, while Japan has not set a date.
Andrew Bowie, a UK minister at the department for energy security and net zero, told Class CNBC in Turin that this was a “historic agreement”.
“So, to have the G7 nations come around the table to send that signal to the world – that we, the advanced economies of the world – are committed to phasing out coal by the early 2030s is quite incredible.”
However, the move has been described as 'too little, too late' by Greenpeace.
“As the climate emergency demands they can’t just stop at coal: fossil fuels are destroying people and planet and a commitment to rapidly phase out all fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – is urgently needed,” according to Tracy Carty, global climate politics expert at Greenpeace International.
G7 to phase out coal-fired power plants
