G7 Nations Agree to Phase Out Coal Power Plants by 2035 in Historic Climate Policy Breakthrough

Ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations have reached a historic climate policy breakthrough by agreeing to close down all their coal power plants no later than 2035, according to UK Minister Andrew Bowie. The decision marks a significant shift in international efforts against climate change as putting an end date on coal use has been contentious at previous United Nations (UN) conferences due to resistance from Japan, one of the countries most dependent on fossil fuels for its energy supply. Other G7 nations like Germany and Italy had previously made pledges to phase out their own coal-fired power plants by specific dates, but now this commitment has been extended across all members of the grouping that includes Canada, France, Japan, Britain (which hosts these summits), as well as Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The US Environmental Protection Agency announced last week new rules requiring coal-fired power plants to either capture their climate pollution or close by 2039, while Japan has yet to make a formal announcement but is reportedly considering phasing out its own coal fleet in the mid-2030s. Dave Jones from Ember, an environmental think tank, hailed this development as another nail in the coffin for coal and called on all countries that rely heavily upon gas – one fossil fuel to have emerged from ongoing policy transitions globally – to follow suit by phasing it out too. The G7’s decisions usually trickle down or influence wider climate action taken by other global bodies such as the Group of Twenty (G20) which comprises significant greenhouse gases emitters like China and India, alongside major fossil fuel producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia.