G7 leaders agree to end new government support for coal

• 3 years ago (2021-06-14)
• David Flin

Coal 296 Emissions 65

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The leaders of the G7 nations announced they would rapidly scale up technologies and policies that accelerate the transition away from coal capacity, including ending new government support for coal-fired power generation by the end of this year.

Following the G7 summit in Britain, the G7 countries pledged to increase climate finance contributions as part of efforts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change and help a move toward cleaner energy. They said in a communique: “Coal-fired power generation is the single biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Continued global investment in unabated coal power generation is incompatible with keeping 1.5°C within reach. We stress that international investments in unabated coal must stop now, and we commit now to an end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021.”

US President Joe Biden, speaking after the summit, said that there was a commitment of up to $2 billion “to support developing countries as they transition away from unabated coal-fired power.”

The G7 nations, in their statement, vowed to focus on other technologies, including carbon capture, to help speed up the transition away from coal. The communique said: “We will focus on accelerating progress on electrification and batteries, hydrogen, carbon capture, usage and storage, zero emission aviation and shipping and, for those countries that opt to use it, nuclear power.”

The leaders also pledged to work together to tackle carbon leakage – the risk that tough climate policies could cause companies to relocate to regions where they can continue to pollute cheaply.