What the G7 Climate and Environment meeting in Turin decided:from the commitment to eliminate coal to the "Coalition on water"

The Venaria Reale summit ends.European Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra:«An extraordinary success»

The curtain falls on G7 Environment, Energy and Climate which opened on Sunday 28 April in the palace of Venaria Reale, just outside Turin.Ministers from Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States have reached agreement on a series of commitments on the front of decarbonization and the fight against climate change.The most relevant aspect concerns coal, the dirtiest of all fossil fuels.The G7 countries made the commitment for the first time to "phase out coal-fired power generation during the first half of the 2030s or in a period consistent with maintaining temperatures within 1.5°C".As for other countries, the final document includes a commitment to promote a halt to the approval of new coal-fired power plants around the world as soon as possible.

The "phase-out" of coal

Contrary to what you might think, coal is still widely used in some of the most industrialized countries to produce electricity.The black jersey certainly goes to Japan, which in 2023 obtained 30% of its electricity from this fossil fuel, one of the main causes of the climate crisis.Germany does slightly better (26%), which however had committed to completely abandoning the use of coal starting from 2038.The United States, which produces 16% of its electricity from coal, has also made the same commitment, but until now had not indicated a clear date by which to stop.The other G7 countries, however, should have no problem eliminating this source from their energy mix.Coal accounts for 7% of electricity production in Canada, 5% in Italy, 1% in France and the United Kingdom.

The "coalition for water"

Among the new features of the Turin summit is the announcement of the birth of a G7 Coalition for water, with the aim of «identifying common objectives and strategies, to catalyze shared ambitions and priorities to address the global water crisis and to integrate water and its cross-sectoral relevance effectively and consistently into existing forums and processes."The coalition will first of all draw up "a preliminary inventory of processes and opportunities", in order to define a real "global agenda on water".From now on, the rotating presidency of the G7 will organize at least one meeting per year on this topic, in order to ensure "that the objectives and results of each proposed seminar are targeted and clear".

Commitments on renewables

On the energy policy front, the Turin summit confirms the commitment made to Cop28 of Dubai to «support the tripling of global renewable energy capacity» in the world, so as to «strengthen energy security.The global objective of reaching an energy storage capacity in the energy sector of 1,500 GW in 2030 was also confirmed.To do all this, the ministers underline in the final document, it is essential to "expand, strengthen, modernize and digitize networks".An effort for which 600 billion dollars a year are needed to achieve the objectives set for 2030.

Support for nuclear power

Alongside the commitments on renewables, the G7 in Turin also provides support to support the start-up of the nuclear of new generation.«For those countries that choose to use nuclear energy or support its use», we read in the press release at the end of the summit, the G7 is committed to «promoting the responsible deployment of nuclear energy technologies, including advanced reactors and reactors small modular systems, including microreactors, and work collectively to share national best practices, including responsible waste management."Also confirmed is the desire to continue research activities on nuclear fusion technology "encouraging an increase in private investment and public involvement to solve research challenges and develop international supply chains and workforces".

The other points of the agreement

Other relevant points of the agreement also include the confirmation of the commitment to achieve a completely or predominantly decarbonised energy system by 2050, inviting all major economies to present national plans in 2025 explaining how they intend to achieve zero emissions net by 2050.On the transport front, G7 ministers recognize that the “key technology” to achieve decarbonisation is electric.A half defeat for the Italian government, which however obtained the inclusion of a mention of biofuels in the final text.The final document of the Turin summit then recognizes the need to unlock climate finance in the order of "trillions" of dollars, with the G7 countries committing to support the countries of the global South to develop plans for complete investment.

«A decisive step forward»

Among the first to express satisfaction with the outcome of the G7 in Turin is Wopke Hoekstra, European Climate Commissioner, who speaks of an "extraordinary success".His words were followed up a little later by the Minister of the Environment Gilberto Pichetto, who added:«It was intense work, important work.It is important that the world's large economies assume the responsibility and financial burden of leading the challenge of ecological transition and implementing a new model of sustainable development."Thumbs up also from many associations and research centers, starting with the Ecco think tank, one of the most prominent entities in Italy on the environmental and climate policy front.«The G7 countries take a decisive step forward for the translation of COP28 in Dubai into national policies», comments director Luca Bergamaschi.Mariagrazia Midulla, of WWF Italy, invites the Italian government to do its part:«Now Italy must demonstrate coherence and a sense of leadership, starting from the need to reduce dependence on gas».

On the cover:The Minister of the Environment, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, at the G7 on Climate in Turin, 29 April 2024 (ANSA/Alessandro Di Marco)