- The G7 Leaders in their communique reiterated previous commitments on the energy transition decisions of COP28, but revealed no further progress to deliver climate finance.
- The G7 leaders committed to be “leading contributors”, but without concrete pledges to back up this claim.
“It’s extremely disappointing that G7 leaders have failed to advance the kind of climate agenda we need by providing additional climate finance and an ambitious new finance goal ahead of the upcoming COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan in November. They have once again demonstrated they don’t care enough to go beyond lip service on climate finance. Only speaking of being ‘leading contributors’ is not enough. The G7 leaders had the responsibility to put something meaningful on the table but failed. It is imperative that leaders in the Global North take responsibility for the climate crisis through granting significant finance to the Global South for renewables development, adaptation, and loss and damage. Unlocking finance is essential, time is ticking, and the world is watching” – Andreas Sieber, 350.org Associate Director of Global Policy and Campaigns.
Leaders reaffirmed a commitment to the COP28 renewable energy target, and a new clean energy initiative with African states. However current government climate goals reveal a 3000 gigawatt renewable ambition gap by 2030, which is insufficient to replace fossil fuels at the scale and speed necessary to keep staying at 1.5 degrees within reach .
“The G7s 2035 coal phase out commitment is an insufficient step in the right direction. It is inadequate when it comes to meeting the historic responsibility of the wealthiest nations and biggest historical emitters and falls short of what science commands.” said Sieber.
2024 has been dubbed the ‘year of climate finance’ to build on progress made in Dubai at Cop28. Campaign organizations such as 350.org are hoping that world leaders’ summits such as G7 as leaders of the wealthiest nations and biggest historic emitters would lead the way by putting climate finance firmly on the table.
Source: 350.org
