G-7 Ministers commit to work for carbon-free electricity by 2035

Source: The post is based on the article “G-7 Ministers commit to work for carbon-free electricity by 2035” published in The Hindu on 17th April 2023

What is the News?

The G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment was held in Sapporo, Japan.

India’s Environment Minister also participated in the summit with India being invited as a ‘guest’, in the context of its presidency of the G-20.

What is G7?

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What are the key outcomes of the G7 Ministers’ meeting?

Carbon-free electricity: Participating leaders committed to work towards ensuring carbon-free electricity production by 2035 and accelerating the phase-out of coal.

– A proposal to have a 2030 deadline for phasing out coal was shot down. The final text also gives leeway for continued investment in gas, on the grounds that it could be a stopgap against energy shortfalls.

Solar and wind power: The participants agreed to accelerate solar and wind energy investments to produce 1,000 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from solar power and 150 GW of wind power from offshore platforms.

Fossil Fuel subsidies: The countries expressed their commitment to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025.

What did India say at the G7 Ministers’ meeting?

On emissions target: Developed nations must take on larger and more rapid CO2 emission cuts to meet carbon neutrality goals before 2050 while providing developing countries like India the legitimate carbon space to grow.

On Finance: Developing countries too needed finance, technology and assistance from developed countries for transitioning away from fossil fuels. 

– Reaching targets on carbon neutrality and increased ambition “will not fly” unless they were made keeping principles of equity and climate justice at their centre.