Leaders of the Group of Seven Rich Nations will be under pressure from Sunday to deliver on climate pledges in Bavaria as Russia’s energy cuts trigger a return to fossil fuels to warm the planet.
Germany is in an awkward position as host of the G7 summit after recently announcing that Europe’s biggest economy will burn more coal to offset a drop in Russian gas supplies amid deteriorating ties over the war in Ukraine.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz nevertheless insists that the G7 remain committed to the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
But there are growing concerns that Scholz will use the meeting to urge G7 partners to water down an earlier pledge to end funding for gas and oil projects abroad by the end of the year.
“That would be a real setback,” says Alden Meyer, senior associate at climate policy think tank E3G.
“Scholz could go down in history as a climate retreat.”
US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and their counterparts from Great Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan will be guests with Scholz at the luxurious Schloss Elmau from Sunday to Tuesday.
Thousands of people demonstrated in the city of Munich on the eve of the summit to urge G7 leaders to do more to tackle climate change.
– Comeback of bitter coal –
As the effects of the climate crisis are already being felt around the world through devastating floods, rising seas and droughts, the summit will be closely watched for new funding commitments to help poor nations cope.
But hopes for a breakthrough are slim as the conflict in Ukraine dominates the agenda and Western attention turns to the vast sums needed to rebuild the country.
“Before the war, there was also a clear intention in Germany to really do something about climate finance, and that seems to be off the table now,” said Susanne Droege, climate policy analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
Soaring energy prices and fears that Moscow could abruptly cut supplies have pushed European nations to wean themselves off Russian oil, coal and gas.
With renewable energy like solar and wind not yet a widely available alternative, countries like Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria are turning back to fossil fuels to fill the gap.
Federal Energy Minister Robert Habeck, a Green Party politician, called the decision to reactivate mothballed coal-fired power plants “bitter” but necessary for energy security.
He stressed that Germany remains on track to close its coal-fired power plants by 2030 and remains committed to a massive shift to renewable energy.
Droege said Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has exposed the risks of dependence on fossil fuels.
“The only benefit of this war is that … there has been an increased understanding that renewable energy sources will pay off,” Droege said.
– ‘Empty promises’ –
Environmentalists say a key focus of the G7 climate talks should be helping the most vulnerable nations, who are already bearing the brunt of the climate emergency.
“In the Horn of Africa, over 18 million people are food insecure due to a terrible drought,” Ugandan youth activist Vanessa Nakate told reporters ahead of the summit.
“We are fed up with empty promises. We need the G7 countries to put money on the table for losses and damages.”
Scholz himself wants to found a “climate club” in which willing nations should agree on the same rules of the game in order to avoid competitive disadvantages.
This could include setting standards for carbon pricing or unified regulation of what constitutes green hydrogen. However, Japan and the United States have no plans to introduce a national carbon price.
Observers say strong signals are needed from the G7 ahead of the UN’s COP27 climate talks in Egypt in November.
The final G7 statement will be scrutinized for any backtracking on previous commitments, including a pledge to largely decarbonize their countries’ power sectors by 2035.
A long-standing promise by wealthy nations to spend $100 billion annually by 2020 to help developing countries adapt to climate change is not being kept.
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