Ahead of a summit of energy and environment ministers next weekend, the G7 countries are „striking out“ a timetable for phasing out coal-fired power generation, Bloomberg reports. The agency said it had seen „draft communiqué documents“ before the talks resumed on Tuesday, which „show that the European Union, the United States and Japan have expressed reservations about the United Kingdom’s proposal to set a 2030 deadline for phasing out coal-fired power generation.“ The text, which has the support of France, would also acknowledge the need to „cancel new global coal-fired power projects,“ and would commit the G7 countries to end the construction of new domestic coal-fired power plants and work with international partners to end similar efforts around the world. The publication notes that Germany „proposed alternative wording that would emphasize the goal of phasing out domestic coal-fired electricity generation „ideally by 2030“ or „in 2030,“ while host Japan „proposed to reaffirm the commitment from last year’s G7 leaders„ statement to “achieve a fully or largely decarbonized power sector by 2035.„ Negotiators are also “still at odds over whether Japan is pushing for wording that would support the use of hydrogen and the ammonia produced from it as an energy source,„ the article says: “Several countries pushed for this support to be more specific, arguing that its use must be consistent with other climate and decarbonization goals and only occur when related nitrogen oxide pollution is curbed.„ The draft statement also says ministers would agree that new investments in gas production are needed, given the energy implications of the Russian invasion, Reuters reports. It quotes the draft statement as saying: “In this context, in this particular unforeseen situation, we recognise the need for essential investments in LNG [liquefied natural gas] and natural gas production, in line with our climate goals and commitments.„ The rapporteur adds that “the proposal is still subject to negotiations by the G7 countries and may change significantly before adoption.”.

Jennifer A Long, Bloomberg, Carbon Brief