Tokyo (EFE)
The countries of the Group of Seven set this specific goal in the joint statement adopted today at the end of their two-day meeting in Sapporo, northern Japan, which focused on accelerating efforts to combat climate change.
Specifically, they point to the “collective opportunity to reduce by at least 50% the emissions of the G7 vehicle fleet by 2035 or earlier in relation to the 2000 level, as an intermediate point to reach net zero emissions” and to “measure the Progress” of efforts to decarbonise and electrify the automotive sector.
battery supply
This is part of the global objective of achieving net zero emissions from the motor sector by 2050, which will require key actions in the industry of all countries, including the measures already applied by the members of the G7 to achieve 100% of new passenger car sales to be electrified models by 2035.
To achieve this, they agree to cooperate in the adoption of a series of measures, such as “harmonizing methods that guarantee the supply of materials for batteries”, and supporting the recycling of these energy storage devices.
In addition, with a view to promoting the use of hydrogen as clean energy, “developments in technologies such as fuel cell vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and fuels that are low and neutral in CO2 emissions, including biofuels and synthetics, will be evaluated,” according to stated in the final statement.
Abandonment of coal, without term
The G7 representatives have also agreed to accelerate efforts to abandon the use of coal and other fossil fuels, although in this matter they did not set a new specific deadline for it.
“We underscore our commitment, in the context of global efforts, to accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels to achieve net-zero emissions energy systems by 2050,” the joint statement said.
The document does not accompany this promise with a specific deadline before 2050, as several of the G7 members had claimed, due to disagreement with other countries such as the host, whose energy supply depends highly on coal and the importation of gas and Petroleum.
Support for Ukraine
The ministers call for diversifying sources of energy supply and rapidly developing “clean, safe, sustainable and affordable energy” within the agreed global action framework for 2050 and aimed at limiting the global increase in temperatures to 1.5°C.
However, the declaration recognizes “the importance of national energy security, affordability and resilience”, as well as “the need to address energy poverty and offer support to workers, regions and communities” affected.
This is interpreted as an allusion to industrializing countries, and in particular to emerging economies in Asia that are highly dependent on coal, like Japan.
The group of countries that make up Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States have also pledged to take measures to improve energy supply chains, which have been disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and have reiterated its support for Kiev in the face of the neighboring country’s aggression.