As the leaders of the world’s seven richest countries met at the G7 conference at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps, they did so knowing that climate change means less and less snow on those iconic white-capped peaks every year.
High up on the agenda was the low-carbon transition of their economies and ensuring that the 1.5ºC Paris Agreement global warming target is not surpassed.
The Group of Seven countries are the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Japan.
The World Economic Forum reported last Monday that through net zero emissions commitments since COP26, G7 countries have been hammering out policy changes quickly to phase out fossil fuels and decarbonise their economies.
At the G7 gathering in the UK last year, leaders emphasised the need to adapt their economies and mobilise finance to ward off climate change. They also set up the G7 2030 Nature Compact, a pledge to have 30% of global land and 30% of global oceans within conservation areas by 2030.
Despite the need for G7 countries to agree on how to maintain pressure on Russia, and to support countries to tackle rocketing food prices, G7 chairperson and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is determined to leave the summit with concrete progress made on climate issues.
The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has proposed the idea of a “climate club” which, as with the net zero and nature compact pledges, looks to build a global alliance among countries to deepen collaboration on delivering on their Paris Agreement pledges.
This would involve governments working with the private sector across three core pillars: placing a price on pollution, greening heavy industry, and increasing trade of low-carbon products.
The Ukraine war has created challenges for ambitious climate policy, with Germany declaring a gas crisis as Russia tightens the screws on natural gas supply to Europe. Amid the unfolding energy crunch, Germany has also turned on the lights at coal-fired power stations once more.
For Germany, one of the world’s most industrialised nations, which has made climate action a central part of its foreign policy, assuring the security of energy systems will be of utmost importance at the summit.
G7 ministers have already committed to a multilateral response to preserve global energy security, and to help partner countries who may find themselves in dire straits due to the gas pressure. In relation to high-emitting industries, which account for 30% of global emissions, the ministers stated that industrial decarbonisation must be accelerated if we’re to remain in the 1.5ºC mark.
The World Economic Forum's First Movers Coalition, which tackles pollution in “hard to abate” industries such as energy and heavy manufacturing, has been recognised by these G7 ministers as a key support structure for innovation to lower the cost of low-carbon technologies.
At Davos 2022, more than 50 corporations pledged to revamp their procurement models to strictly purchase aluminium, steel and other commodities emitting low to no carbon. Major players including Ford and Volvo have pledged that 10% of their aluminium purchases will be manufactured with near zero emissions by 2030.
A recent study by We Mean Business and Cambridge Economics found that investing in a low-carbon economy will create new jobs, generate savings for households and create sustainable economic growth. The report estimates that, by 2025, in G7 nations, the low-carbon shift could create up to 1 920 000 new jobs and have energy bills fall by up to 25%.
Current Affairs