There is no date for a coal phase-out as G7 environment ministers wrap up their meeting in Japan

A chimney stands behind piles of coal at the Onyx Kraftwerk Farge coal-fired power station on March 10, 2022 near Bremen, Germany.

David Hecker | Getty Images

Environment and energy ministers from the Group of Seven nations ended two days of talks in northern Japan on Sunday without taking action on Canada’s push for a timetable for phasing out coal-fired power plants.

In their 36-page statement after meeting in Sapporo, the ministers reiterated their commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest, and promised to work with other countries to finish new coal-fired power projects that don’t. Take steps to reduce emissions.

“We invite and will work with other countries to finish new coal-fired power generation projects globally as quickly as possible to accelerate the clean energy transition in a fair way,” the document says.

Canadian Environment Minister Stephen Gilbo told Japan’s public broadcaster last week that he hoped to see “strong language” in the final statement on phasing out coal.

Instead, the leaders reiterated that they need to achieve a “carbon-neutral energy sector” by 2035.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday, Gilbolt said he still welcomed the shared commitment among G7 countries to accelerate the phase-out of coal, but also called for greater urgency.

“For Canada, phasing out coal-fired electricity generation by 2030 has never been more important,” the statement reads.

“The science is clear, countries, particularly the G7, must do more and on a faster timetable to tackle climate change and keep the Paris Agreement’s temperature target within reach.”

In the 2015 Paris Agreement, 196 countries, including Canada, agreed to set national targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions on the way to preventing the planet from warming by more than 2 degrees Celsius on average compared to pre-industrial levels.

Guilbeault has called for a consensus to phase out coal by 2030, as Canada has promised, but G7 environment ministers have struggled to find common ground on the issue as countries like Japan continue to rely on coal-fired electricity.

Japan has instead advocated its own natural strategy that involves using what the country calls “clean coal,” where emissions are captured.

A report released earlier this month by Global Energy Monitor – a group that tracks global energy projects – revealed that G7 countries account for 15% of the world’s working coal power.

Global capacity to burn coal for power generation grew last year, the report said, although that was mainly due to the opening of several new plants in China, offsetting efforts to close them in other parts of the world.

“The reality is that coal is the number one fruit that needs to be replaced sooner rather than later,” said Andrew Weaver, a climate change policy researcher and professor at the University of Victoria.

Weaver, who previously led the BC Greens, criticized the G-7 for failing to deliver tough timetables for phasing out coal-fired electricity, pointing instead to its 2050 net-zero pledge.

“Nobody at that table can be held accountable for not achieving that goal, because it transcends their political life, which is why it makes no sense whatsoever,” he said.

While no global deadlines have been set, Deborah Vanningnaten, a professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University, said individual countries have stuck to their own domestic timetables for phasing out coal.

“I think the most important thing is to watch what happens in individual countries as they grapple with serious restrictions,” Vanegaten said on Sunday.

The Sapporo talks also resulted in pledges to cooperate on prudent and equitable policies for environmental energy, water, agriculture and marine.

“I think we were able to prove to the international community that our commitment to climate change and environmental issues is unwavering, even in the context of the situation in Ukraine,” Japanese Environment Minister Akihiro Nishimura said after the talks ended.

The ministers also committed to ending plastic pollution, aiming to cut new plastic pollution to zero by 2040 as part of their priorities ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima in May.