Leaders of the world’s richest economies vowed Friday to end their use of coal-fired power by 2035 but declined to release concrete plans for phasing out oil and natural gas.
The commitment was outlined in a communiqué after the Group of Seven meeting that ended Saturday in Apulia, Italy. It comes just six months after countries agreed at global climate talks to shift away from all planet-warming fossil fuels.
G7 countries also said they would continue to pursue pledges to give a major boost to renewables and energy efficiency. But climate advocates criticized the commitments as little more than a rehashing of past goals.
“Leaders at the G7 summit are only prepared to commit to what had essentially already been agreed a few months ago by their climate and energy ministers,” said Tom Evans, a senior policy adviser at climate think tank E3G.
