Italy and Japan, current and previous G7 presidencies, are among the top five countries subsidizing fossil fuel projects in the G20 | Illustration: Binay Sinha
None of the G7 members are on track to meet their existing 2030 emissions reduction targets, according to a new analysis released on Tuesday.
The analysis from Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute, comes ahead of the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers meeting in Venaria Reale, Italy, from April 28 to 30.
The G7 is collectively targeting emissions reductions of 40 to 42 percent by 2030, but existing policies suggest they are likely to achieve only 19 to 33 percent by the end of this decade, the analysis found.
This is at best about half of what is needed and would result in greenhouse gas emissions exceeding the level compatible with 1.5 degrees Celsius by about four gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2030.
Such a lack of ambition will not provide the leadership signal needed from the world’s richest countries, which make up about 38 percent of the global economy and are responsible for 21 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, the researchers said.
The G7 economies must cut their emissions by 58 percent from 2019 levels by 2030 to do their part to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, they said.
“These economies, which make up 38 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), are not shrugging their shoulders: they have both the technology and the finances to do their part. Against the backdrop of unprecedented climate extremes, exacerbated by fossil fuel use, where ambitious decarbonization action and setting a deadline to transition away from fossil fuels should be the bare minimum,” said Neil Grant, the lead author of the analysis.
The researchers recommended that the G7 mobilize new and additional international climate finance, well above the $100 billion target, and develop innovative financing instruments to accelerate the delivery of accessible finance to vulnerable countries.
These economies, the analysis said, should commit to eliminating domestic electricity generation from coal and fossil gas by 2030 and 2035, respectively, and to ending public financing and other support for fossil fuels abroad.
Italy and Japan, the current and previous presidencies of the G7, are among the top five countries subsidizing fossil fuel projects in the G20.
The researchers also recommended that G7 economies should accelerate towards the global target of tripling renewable energy sources and doubling energy efficiency by 2030, which the International Energy Agency says is crucial to limit average temperature rise to 1 .5 degrees Celsius.
The G7 consists of the US, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Representatives of the European Union also attend the annual summits.
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First print: April 23, 2024 | 6:54 am IST