G-7 Energy, Environment Leaders Not Able To Agree On Climate Plan

The Group of Seven (G-7) wealthy nations' energy and environment ministers convened on Saturday, aiming to balance the realities of a world primarily reliant on fossil fuels with the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The sessions in Sapporo, northern Japan, are intended to forge a consensus on the best path forward ahead of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima in May.

However, disagreements remain on how and when to reduce carbon emissions, particularly since the conflict in Ukraine has heightened concerns about energy security, complicating the endeavour.

The discussions in Sapporo will also address biodiversity loss and other global issues. However, climate change is at the top of the agenda for the closed-door sessions.

At last year's G-7 summit in Germany, the countries agreed to work towards a fully or mostly decarbonised electricity supply by 2035.

As part of its transition to renewable energy, Japan has concentrated its own national plan on so-called clean coal, hydrogen and nuclear energy.

US authorities have expressed support for this method, while others advocate for a more rapid transition to renewable energy.

One of the most serious issues is that, while emissions in the G-7 countries, particularly in Europe, have begun to reduce, they are still rising globally, particularly in large, increasingly affluent economies such as India and China.

The G-7 nations seek to set an example, according to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday.

“We expect those countries to see that this can be done, and the nations that have the wherewithal to make these investments to be the first out give hope to others that they will be able to do it as technology lowers the cost,” she said.

The US government's support of fossil fuel efforts such as the Willow project on Alaska's petroleum-rich North Slope has been criticised for its environmental impact and for contradicting President Joe Biden's vows to reduce carbon emissions and transition to clean energy.

Given the predicted USD 23 trillion worldwide markets for renewable energy by 2030, Granholm believes there is a strong commercial argument for climate-friendly policies.

“They see others gaining work in this field. People who start driving electric vehicles because they don't have to pay petrol prices realise that it's far cheaper to drive EVs. It's all becoming clear to people,” she said while touring the Suiso Frontier, the world's first and only liquid hydrogen carrier, showcasing the latest technology for what Japan's authorities call a “hydrogen society.”

While solar panels are increasingly being planted in Japanese farm fields rather than crops, and wind turbines dot the country's windy coastlines, the government expects around 60 per cent of its energy to come from fossil fuels in 2030, with renewables contributing for up to 38 per cent. The remainder would be accounted for by new fuels and nuclear power.

Japan is seeking approval for its so-called “GX transformation” plan in Sapporo, which its leaders claim is intended to promote energy sufficiency and phase out carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.

Legislation to support the strategy is still awaiting approval by the powerful lower house of parliament, but it would entail the issuance of 20 trillion yen (USD 150 billion) in green transformation bonds in the hope of achieving a combined public-private investment in the decarbonisation of 150 trillion yen (USD 1.1 trillion).

The legislation also supports a carbon-pricing scheme that would require businesses to pay for their carbon emissions.

Environmentalists argue that the proposal will keep the country's fading nuclear industry alive while hampering the shift to renewable energy sources such as hydroelectric, wave, and geothermal power, as well as wind and solar.

“As the world tries to overcome two crises, climate and energy, especially in Japan, we need to drastically increase renewables,” Takejiro Sueyoshi, co-representative of the Japan Climate Initiative, a non-governmental organisation with 768 member companies and organisations, said in an online briefing earlier this week.

“Discussions in Japan have regressed to the twentieth century. We need to drive a wedge into the debate in order to move it forward rather than backwards,” he remarked.

While hydrogen energy produces no emissions and just water, the JCI and other environmental groups dispute the pursuit of coal-fired hydrogen power - a significant component of the joint Japan-Australia initiative that resulted in the construction of the hydrogen carrier Suiso Frontier.

According to Takako Momoi, a member of the environmental group Kiko Net, the project was initiated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, indicating its emphasis on financial promotion rather than reducing carbon emissions.

The JCI urged the officials meeting in Sapporo to set more ambitious targets, noting that Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy already get more of their electricity from renewable sources than Japan's 2030 target, and that, despite its own sluggish progress towards eliminating fossil fuel use, the United States will get most of its electricity from renewable sources by 2035.

There isn't much time left. The window of opportunity for change is narrowing, yet there is still hope. Sueyoshi stated, “We must use the sense of crisis as a turning point.”

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom comprise the G-7.