At a meeting of G7 environment ministers in Sapporo, Japan, the UK and Canada wanted to „set a 2030 date for completing the goal of accelerating the phase-out of domestic coal-fired power generation.“ According to an annotated draft seen by Climate Home, France agreed, but Japan, the US and the European Union opposed it. In a final 36-page communiqué, the environment ministers said they would prioritize „concrete and timely steps to achieve the goal of accelerating the phase-out of domestic coal-fired power generation.“ They did not set a specific date, however. Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said at the end of the summit that „phasing out coal-fired power generation by 2030 has never been more urgent.“ E3G analyst Alden Meyer criticized the wait-and-see approach. He said: „Every time [the G7 countries] allow an exemption, they give those other countries an excuse to say: „You talk big but you don’t deliver at home“.

Brussels and Washington are divided

Luca Bergamaschi, co-founder of the think tank Ecco, told Climate Home News that domestic politics in the US and EU are making it difficult to adopt the 2030 deadline at the G7 level. „For the EU, such a deadline is not yet mature enough, given the ongoing discussions with Eastern European countries,“ he added. The European Union needs to agree on its position internally. EU member state Poland is currently planning to phase out coal by 2049. (Matteo Civillini)