Advanced Economies Of The world Are Committing To Phasing Out Coal By Early 2030s
Energy and climate ministers from the G7 group of industrialised nations have agreed to phase out by 2035 the use of coal power
Group of Seven (G-7), the wealthy nations of the world, have sent the signal that the advanced economies of the world are committing to phasing out coal by the early 2030s. Thereby setting a global example of fighting the climate crisis, which marked mark a significant step in the direction indicated by the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai last year to transition away from fossil fuels, of which coal is the most polluting.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed it with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the ground for a swift, just and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance.
Italy was pushing for an agreement among the Group of Seven wealthy nations to set a target date for the phase-out of coal in power generation, ahead of the meeting of G7 energy ministers in Turin.
The energy ministers’ meeting hosted by Italy, which holds the rotating G7 presidency this year, was held in the 17th century Venaria palace, a former royal residence outside Turin on April 28-30, 2024. Rome was persuading its partners – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan – to set a common target date for the end of coal and was ready to bring forward its own deadline if it should be necessary to broker an agreement.
Though Germany was resisting Italy’s efforts on a coal phase-out deadline. Even though Berlin is currently aiming to phase out its coal-fired power plants in 2030 but the fuel is still the country’s second most important energy source for electricity generation. The US & Japan were also not very keen on this.
Energy and climate ministers from the G7 group of industrialised nations have agreed to phase out by 2035 the use of coal power where the emissions have not been captured, a UK minister said, giving the group a timeline for meeting the deal struck at last year’s UN climate summit in Dubai.
The writer of this article is Dr. Seema Javed, an environmentalist & a communications professional in the field of climate and energy
