G7 nations commit to phasing out coal by 2035 but give Japan some flexibility

MILAN (AP) — Energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations committed Tuesday to phase out coal power by 2035, marking the first time the G7 has explicitly referenced a phase-out, but left flexibility for countries heavily reliant on coal.

The final communique of the meeting in the Italian city of Turin included language that could extend the 2035 deadline to a “timeframe consistent with limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius” above pre-industrialized levels.

Italy’s environment and energy security minister, Gilberto Picchetto Fratin, emphasized the significance of targeting coal, “the source of most emissions.”

The communique puts a timeline to countries’ commitments made at the COP 28 conference last year in Dubai, which called for accelerating the phase-down of so-called unabated coal power, where emissions have not been captured.