Article summary
- G7 leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to the $100 billion climate fund goal for developing countries.
- The group is committed to achieving this climate fund goal in 2023 through collaboration with other developed countries.
- The group met in Japan recently and made some climate and energy-related decisions. Some of which include the abatement of fossil fuels and meeting net zero goals based on national circumstances.
G7 leaders have renewed the promise of $100 billion in climate change funds for developing economies. They promised to meet the goal in 2023. They made the renewed pledge during the 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit, which took place from May 19 to 21 in Japan.
During the meeting, the leaders said that in the face of the increasing threats posed by climate change, supporting climate-vulnerable groups is essential for ensuring human security and achieving resilient and sustainable development.
Need to enhance climate change
The G7 leaders made a promise to continue to scale up and enhance support to strengthen the resilience of climate-vulnerable groups through enhancing climate change adaptation and climate disaster risk reduction, response, recovery, and early-warning systems, including through the Global Shield against Climate Risks and other initiatives related to early warning systems and the adoption of climate-resilient debt clauses. They said:
- “We reaffirm our commitments to the developed country parties’ goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion annually in climate finance from 2020 through 2025 in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation.
- “We will work together with other developed country parties in order to fully meet the goal in 2023. We welcome discussions on an ambitious and fit-for-purpose new collective quantified goal (NCQG), which contributes as a global effort from a wide variety of sources, public and private, to reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement, including making finance flows consistent with a pathway toward low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate resilient development.”
Reducing emissions based on national circumstances
The G7 leaders also made a commitment to collaborate with emerging and developing economies to reduce carbon emissions. This is an important aspect of the energy transition. Recall that earlier this month, the COP 28 President and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, called on global stakeholders to work towards reducing emissions, not energy access.
During the G7 Summit, the leaders noted the importance of increasing the pace and scale of action on climate change, biodiversity loss, and clean energy transitions, so, they promised to globally advance and promote a green transformation. They said:
- “We will engage with developing and emerging countries to accelerate emission reduction, including by supporting their transitions to climate-resilient, circular, and nature-positive economies and net-zero GHG emissions through various and practical pathways considering national circumstances. To that end, we reaffirm our strong commitment to supporting developing countries’ just energy transitions, which will be supported by coordinated actions.”
What you should know
The G7 leaders highlighted the importance of energy efficiency as well as the widespread use of renewable energy in the fight against climate change. However, the group acknowledged the fact that all countries do not share the same pathway to a just energy transition. The group also reaffirms its commitment to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 or sooner.
- The G7 leaders also stressed the important role that increased deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) can play. They also acknowledged the fact that investment in the sector can be appropriate in response to the current energy crisis and to address potential gas market shortfalls provoked by the energy crisis.