G7 summit disappoints on climate action, Financial Times reports

The group of wealthy G7 economies is facing criticism from climate experts and activists after leaders failed to adopt stronger commitments to move away from fossil fuels in the energy sector at the weekend summit in Hiroshima, Japan. Reported the Financial Times (FT) newspaper today. Germany and Japan succeeded in their efforts to leave room for the use of gas and coal, respectively.

The summit took place shortly after the World Meteorological Organization warned of a growing likelihood that global warming will reach the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold above pre-industrial levels within five years. A group of countries led by the Netherlands, New Zealand and Chile also called on the G7 on Friday to lead efforts to end the use of fossil fuels that drive climate change.

The leaders of the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Britain and Italy devoted considerable space to the issue in their joint statement on Saturday, but did not set a deadline for closing coal-fired power plants. They pledged to accelerate the process and also committed to the goal of a „fully or predominantly decarbonized“ energy sector by 2035.