Climate and energy ministers from the world’s richest nations pledged to end the use of coal-fired power by the middle of the 2030s, a first step toward moving their energy systems away from fossil fuels in an era of rising temperatures.
A 35-page communiqué released Tuesday, at the end of the Group of Seven meeting in Turin, Italy, also outlined plans to rapidly scale up battery storage to support renewable energy expansion, and it indicated that the countries would include plans to transition away from oil and gas in their next round of climate targets due next year.
The agreement sets a deadline for the first time to exit coal “when possible, wherever possible,” Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italy’s energy minister, told reporters Tuesday.
“This means that G7 countries undertake to phase out the use of coal without jeopardizing the various countries’ economic and social equilibrium,” Fratin said in Italian.
