Berlin, May 27, (dpa/GNA) - The G7 group of major industrialized nations have formally committed to ending generating electricity from coal following a meeting of climate and environment ministers in Berlin on Friday.
It is the first time the seven countries have agreed to a goal of predominantly carbon-free electricity by 2035.
German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck described the commitment as a “strong signal for more climate protection.”
The participants have also pledged in their final declaration to increase their climate ambitions and to double the corresponding financial aid for poorer countries by 2025, Habeck said.
Although it is no longer possible to undo global warming, the aim must now be to slow it down, the minister said.
“I’m going home this afternoon with a good feeling,” said Germany’s Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, hosting the summit in Berlin, saying that the meeting was “a success for climate protection, nature conservation and also environmental protection.”
The G7 environment and energy ministers had been meeting in Berlin since Wednesday. Germany currently chairs the group of seven leading industrialized states, which also includes France, Italy, Canada and the US.
Following the release of a 40-page final declaration, the immediate response from environmentalists was also positive.
The decision to phase out fossil electricity is “a strong and necessary signal, as is the intention to support poorer countries in phasing out fossil energies and coping with climate-related damage and losses,” said Martin Kaiser, Executive Director of Greenpeace Germany.
In the final declaration, the G7 countries undertake, among other things, to implement the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 more quickly. In this agreement, the international community set itself the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era, if possible.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, greenhouse gas emissions would have to be limited quickly and drastically to achieve this.
“In the final text, the G7 have given a gratifyingly clear answer to the energy crisis triggered by the Russian war of aggression,” said David Ryfisch, Head of the International Climate Policy Team at the environment and development organisation Germanwatch.
“It lies in the accelerated expansion of renewable energies and an increase in energy efficiency.”
The British president of the World Climate Conference, Alok Sharma, emphasized that the 1.5-degree Celsius target remains – but that additional efforts are necessary to achieve it and that words now needed to be backed up with deeds.
Sharma also said that independence from fossil fuels was necessary to overcome the climate crisis and energy crisis.
The G7 nations now want to provide €100 billion ($107 billion) per year for developing countries.
The G7 countries also want to do more to preserve biodiversity and protect the oceans. By 2030, they want to protect at least 30% of their own coastal and marine areas.
In addition, they are committed to ending the pollution of the oceans with plastic waste and are working to achieve an international agreement to this effect by the end of 2024.
GNA