- The G7 Leaders’ Summit disappointed both on climate ambition and on delivery against previous commitments.
- The G7 under Italy’s presidency showed less ambition in some areas than the G20 under the Presidency of Brazil.
- That said, there is a window of opportunity for the G7 to step up with greater ambition before COP29 in Baku at the end of the year, particularly with some member countries electing new governments in the coming months – starting with the UK on July 4th.
Story
This week, Italy hosted the 50th G7 Leaders’ Summit in Fasano, Apulia. This Summit was the key opportunity in 2024 for G7 Leaders to signal a high level of ambition and demonstrate delivery on climate action, going beyond what came out of the previous meetings of Climate and Finance Ministers. Unfortunately, the Leaders missed the mark in both ambition and delivery.
It was positive that G7 Leaders reaffirmed the COP28 outcome in relation to the need to transition away from fossil fuels, recognising that intensive efforts are needed to reduce the use and demand of these fuels. However, Leaders merely reaffirmed commitments already made by their Energy and Climate Ministers. Plans and timelines to phase out oil and gas investment and production were absent. Delivery towards the previous commitment to decarbonise power by 2035 was unimpressive.
G7 Leaders were firm in their commitment to reform international public finance architecture, particularly in the importance of driving forward reforms to ensure that Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) play a transformational role. However their approach to other key issues including debt and fiscal space for EMDE transition was lacklustre, and the G7 did not notably support or endorse the Brazilian G20 Presidency’s push to create national transition plans and collaborative funding platforms for developing country transitions. In addition, G7 Leaders did not speak coherently to overall financial system reforms, and the market rules and reforms being discussed at the G20 level under the Sustainable Finance Working Group.
The G7 Presidency has not covered itself in glory. Despite the recent political win and big plans towards Africa, Meloni’s global credibility is at stake both from the lack of delivery of new finance for development, including for IDA21, and from pushing for more investment in African gas production, which could have a negative impact on public budgets and become a key factor in driving a worsening debt crisis.
That said, with this final text European leaders of the three major economies have reaffirmed the key priorities of the EU Green Deal, including on renewables, storage, grids and energy efficiency.
Change may come soon. A new Labour Government in the UK under Keir Starmer could bring the leadership we need after announcing yesterday they will end new oil and gas licenses. That would be a first in G7 and exactly the leadership we need to steer the group forward and in the right direction.
At a time when extreme climate events are increasing and worsening globally, G7 countries must ramp up their climate ambition and the speed of their delivery – for not only their sake but the rest of the world – yet they remain stalled. This puts the Mission 1.5 agenda at risk and requires G7 countries to rise to the task in the second half of this year to ensure a successful COP in Baku this November. The key agenda items the G7 will have to show leadership on will be further progress on finance reform and robust new national transition plans (also known as NDCs) – leading by example by setting an ambitious course will be key to leveraging G20 countries in the coming months and keeping their credibility in tackling the climate crisis.
Quotes
Tom Evans, Senior Policy Advisor, E3G said:
“If you are looking for ambitious leadership on climate change, you won’t find it in Puglia. 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. All eyes will now be on whether the G7 choose to up their game when they come forward with new 2035 climate targets that limit warming to 1.5C, as all countries under the Paris Agreement must do ahead of next year’s major COP30 climate summit in Brazil. The G7 have said they will do this by next February, but the real test is whether these climate plans chart a course for the transition away from fossil fuels, as they agreed to do just 6 months ago at COP28.”
Sima Kammourieh, Programme Lead at E3G said:
“The G7 Leaders failed to present the full-fledged, structured, and specific economic and financial action plan that is needed for global climate safety. At this juncture, more is needed than menus of options, or high-level frameworks. The Brazilian presidency of the G20 now needs to act urgently to pick up where G7 Leaders left off, assessing the gaps, and deploying its diplomatic know-how to achieve clear decisions by the G20 Leaders’ summit. The success of Brazil’s 2025 COP presidency, and the world’s chance of climate safety, will both depend on stronger action being taken in 2024.”
Pieter de Pous, Programme Lead, E3G said:
“G7 progress on coal is increasingly overshadowed by a failure to progress on gas. Leaders are right to want to curb Russian energy revenues and end dependencies on gas imports from Russia, the door to more public investments in the gas sector does not need to be kept open for this. G7 Leaders urgently need to adopt a more realistic approach to energy and come clean on how they plan to phase out gas as well coal.”
– ENDS –
Available for comment
Alden Meyer (EN), Senior Associate, (UNFCCC and G7/G20 dynamics, multilateral climate and clean energy diplomacy, mitigation ambition, climate finance, US policy and politics)
m: +1-202-378-8619 | alden.meyer@e3g.org
Tom Evans (EN), E3G Senior Policy Advisor, (climate ambition, the Global Stocktake, UNFCCC processes and COP29, climate diplomacy & geopolitics)
m: +44 (0) 7931 317 327 | tom.evans@e3g.org
Pieter de Pous (EN, NL, DE), E3G Programme Lead, (Fossil Fuel Transition, NDCs)
m: +49 160 6573414 | pieter.depous@e3g.org
Ana Mulio Alvarez (EN, ES), E3G Researcher, (UNFCCC, loss and damage, adaptation)
m: +32 490 000 514 | ana.mulio@e3g.org
Sima Kammourieh (EN, FR, DE, AR), E3G Programme Lead, (International financial regulation and standards, G7/G20 finance ministers)
m: +49 (0) 160 9596 4443 | sima.kammourieh@e3g.org
Kate Levick (EN), E3G Associate Director and Co-Head of the Transition Plan Taskforce Secretariat, (International and UK sustainable finance, public and private sector finance, financial initiatives, climate disclosure, transition planning, financial regulation, non state actor accountability)
m: +44 (0) 7860 861225 | kate.levick@e3g.org
Franklin Steves (EN, RU, SP, FR), E3G Senior Policy Advisor, (International financial architecture reform, Bridgetown Initiative, CAF reform, climate finance)
m: +44 7484 815434 | franklin.steves@e3g.org
Laura Sabogal Reyes (EN, ES, DE), E3G Senior Policy Advisor, (Public development banks, Paris Alignment and E3G Public Bank Climate Tracker Matrix, climate finance, nature finance, innovative financial mechanisms, country platforms)
m: +49 160 96466368 | laura.sabogal@e3g.org
Johanna Lehne (EN, DE), E3G Programme Lead, (Industry decarbonisation including steel, industrial policy, circular economy, built environment, trade policy)
m: +44 (0) 770 848 6383 | johanna.lehne@e3g.org
Notes to Editors
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