The Group of Seven nations announced Tuesday its member nations would end the use of “unabated” coal by 2035, but left the door open for countries to stretch that deadline in particular contexts.
In a communiqué published after talks between energy, climate and environment ministers in Turin, Italy, the group announced it had committed to “phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s,” in a climate policy breakthrough that G7 negotiators had previously failed to achieve in several years of talks.
But by referring to “unabated” coal, the agreement leaves room for countries to use the fossil fuel past 2035 if their carbon pollution is captured before entering the atmosphere.
The agreement also includes a caveat that countries could choose “a timeline consistent with keeping a limit of 1.5°C temperature rise within reach, in line with countries’ net-zero pathways.”
That caveat appears to allow those countries to keep using coal past 2035, as long as their overall national emissions won’t contribute to global warming of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Science shows that some of the planet’s ecosystems will reach tipping points or struggle to adapt beyond that point.
