G7 countries have pledged to end international funding for coal projects by 2021 and phase out "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies by 2025.
The agreements were made so as to reach climate change targets including limiting the rise of global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and reaching net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.
A statement issued by the environment and climate ministers of the G7 recognised “that coal power generation is the single biggest cause of global temperature increases”.
“We commit now to rapidly scale-up technologies and policies that further accelerate the transition away from unabated coal capacity and to an overwhelmingly decarbonised power system in the 2030s, consistent with our 2030 National Determined Contributions and net zero commitments,” they said, following a virtual meeting.
Coal is regarded as unabated when it is burned for power or heat without using technology to capture the resulting emissions, a system not yet widely used in power generation.
The statement also says “we will phase out new direct government support for carbon intensive international fossil fuel energy, except in limited circumstances at the discretion of each country, in a manner that is consistent with an ambitious, clearly defined pathway towards climate neutrality in order to keep 1.5°C within reach”.
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Signs from Fridays for Future movement in Berlin, Germany. Ten cities joined New York and London in committing to divest from fossil fuel companies as part of efforts to combat climate change. AP -
Climate activists march in an attempt to occupy the Garzweiler open-cast coal mine and nearby gas infrastructure on a day of civil disobedience near Grevenbroich, Germany. Getty -
A child wears plastic bottle waste provided by climate and environmental activists during a protest in Nairobi, Kenya. Reuters -
A deforested area close to Sinop, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The number of bushfires raging in Brazil's Amazon increased 61 per cent in September last year, compared to the same period in 2019. AFP -
Ice sculptures of Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro comprise the artwork 'Meltdown', which was on display last September during the UN Summit On Biodiversity in New York City. AFP -
A Jaguar named Ousado, who suffered second-degree burns during fires in the South American Pantanal region, rests in his cage after treatment in Brazil. AP -
Cars on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. The US state plans to phase out sales of new, petrol-powered cars by 2035. Bloomberg -
Deadly bushfires in California burnt more than 16,000 square kilometres of land last year — more than double the previous record for the most land burnt in a single year in the state. AP -
An aircraft prepares to drop fire retardant while battling a blaze in the Mendocino National Forest, California. AP -
Filipino climate activists hold placards calling for climate action as a part of global climate change protests in Quezon City. Reuters -
Debris collects in a river after heavy rains and floods hit Breil-sur-Roya, a French village close to the Italian border. AFP -
Climate and environmental activists make their way through a forest next to the village of Shipunovo, 170 km south of the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, to extinguish a peat fire. AFP -
A man holds a banner with the message "United for climate" during a small climate change protest in Brussels. AP -
British zoologist Andrew Bladon takes the temperature of a butterfly near Pegsdon, England. Whether a butterfly's wings absorb or reflect heat from the sun could be a matter of life and death in a warming world, British researchers said. AFP -
Members of an environmental group in Seoul, South Korea, take part in a protest against climate change. EPA -
Activists from various environmental groups take part in a protest against climate change in New Delhi, India. EPA -
Ugandan climate change activist Vanessa Nakate takes part in a demonstration in the Luzira suburb of Kampala, Uganda. Reuters -
A climate change demonstration in Vienna, Austria. AFP -
An iceberg floats past Bylot Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in 2017. AP -
A polar bear stands on the ice in the Franklin Strait in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in 2017. AP
US climate envoy John Kerry called on G20 countries to follow the G7’s lead and adopt the measures agreed.
"We do call on all G20 countries now, and all other major economies to join with us. This is not just a one-off event, we hope. It is critical to the goals that we all have for Glasgow," he said.
The virtual meeting was hosted by the UK government, which is the current G7 president. The UK will also host the UN climate summit known as Cop26 later this year in Glasgow.
The G7 ministers also committed to protecting or conserving at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and seas by 2030.
Alok Sharma, the president of Cop26, said “we know we need to consign coal to history”.
A UK government statement said the G7 ministers had “secured historic commitments which will put climate, biodiversity and the environment” at the forefront of Covid-19 recovery efforts.
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Around $3.5 trillion is required between now and 2050 to meet targets for a 'sustainable path', according to the International Energy Agency. AP Photo -
The makeshift Suweida camp for internally displaced people in Yemen’s Marib province. The effects of climate change have exacerbated the displacement of local populations during the country’s war. AFP -
A firefighter monitors a controlled burn, near Jolon, California.Frequent wildfires are an indication of climate change further getting out of control, say environmentalists. Bloomberg -
Wildfire burns through the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, north of Azusa, California. AFP -
Steam rises from a steel mill in Duisburg, Germany. Some countries are using the coronavirus pandemic to wind back climate change commitments, say environmentalists. Getty Images -
A deforested area close to Sinop, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest rose by almost 22 percent from August 2020 to July 2021, compared with the same period the year before, reaching a 15-year high. AFP
Mr Sharma welcomed climate targets from China, the world’s biggest polluter, but said more needed to be done in the short term. China has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
"Frankly what we really want to see are the near-term policies that will then help to deliver the longer-term targets and the whole of the Chinese system needs to deliver on what President Xi Jinping has set out as his policy goals," he said.
Greenpeace said some “useful steps forward” had been laid out in the G7 statement and described the pledge to end international coal funding as a “real positive”.
Rebecca Newsom, head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said it left "China isolated globally with its ongoing international financing for the most polluting fossil fuel".
“Unfortunately though, too many of these pledges remain vague when we need them to be specific and set out timetabled action. The commitment on sea and land protection has to be matched with legally binding targets internationally, a Global Ocean Treaty and strong measures domestically to ensure it happens,” she said.
