Promoting independence from fossil fuels, protecting the oceans, decarbonizing the electricity system and using available resources more consciously are some of the joint goals set by the G7 Ministers of Energy and Climate, who published this Friday the agreements reached after their meeting in Berlin.
“This G7 meeting was a success for climate protection, nature conservation and also for environmental protection.” Those were the words of the German Minister of Climate and Environment, Steffi Lemke, after disseminating the results of the ministerial summit in Berlin, accompanied by Robert Habeck, Vice Chancellor and Minister of Energy of Germany.
The group of industrialized nations made up of Germany, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan said they “accept the challenge” of reaching agreements pointing to what the ministers considered most urgent: safeguarding the climate and the environment, responsibilities which they claim cannot be “avoided” or “postponed”.
To protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, they will adopt measures against pollution by plastics. On the other hand, they promised to make supply chains more sustainable and to create a work plan to improve the efficiency in the use of resources.
But one of the main goals that countries will focus on will be the elimination of the use of coal as a source of energy. Robert Habeck highlighted that the commitment is to decarbonise the electricity sector by 2035 and stressed that it is a “first innovation”. Although, beyond the advances, he pointed out that it is necessary to deepen the efforts.
I welcome some historic pledges at the @G7 Climate, Energy & Environment Ministry
✅ Ending international fossil fuel finance by the end of 2022
✅ Goal to phaseout unabated coal
Climate & environmental security are intrinsically linked to energy & national security pic.twitter.com/rySLdj63s3
— Alok Sharma (@AlokSharma_RDG) May 27, 2022
“Some countries are further ahead and need to be even further away. The UK is one of them. Germany is also trying to do everything faster. However, the signal coming out of this conference is that every country is committed to it and is working to implement it as quickly as possible,” said the German minister.
Habeck added that, to decarbonize transport by 2030, they agreed to promote the use of zero-emission vehicles and phase out subsidies for fossil fuels, claiming that it is “absurd” to use tax money to promote actions that pollute the environment. ambient.
“The fact that we are rewarding climate-damaging behavior with society’s money, that is, everyone’s hard-earned euros, whether through direct subsidies or through tax breaks, is absurd. And this absurdity must stop by 2025,” he said.
Skepticism and protests mark the ministerial meeting of the G7
Robert Habeck referred to global warming, pointing out that it will always exist and that at present “it is impossible to undo it”, but that there are still possibilities to remedy the mistakes of the past to contain it.
“Zero global warming is no longer an option. The only question we are discussing here is: will global warming be stopped by decisive political action in the next few years and not in the next 30 years, but in the next 4, 5 , 8, 10 years, so that we can then even have options for action?” he questioned.
The German Minister of Energy stressed that the discussions were marked by skepticism because, despite the agreements and ambitions expressed in these meetings, the efforts made by the global community so far are not enough.
That same slogan was expressed by demonstrators who approached the Brandenburg Gate, while the meeting of ministers was taking place.
With the aim of symbolically exemplifying global warming, the activists placed an ice statue of a penguin to melt in the sun, with which they specifically denounced the increase in temperature in Antarctica.
Meike Schuetzek, one of the protesters, expressed concern about the current climate situation and warned that “at the moment, the ice is melting much faster than ever”, so they considered it pertinent to draw the attention of the leaders.
“The representatives of the countries of the Antarctic Treaty States are meeting in Berlin at the ATCM (Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting) and, at the same time, the environment ministers are holding the G7 meeting. This means that it is time appropriate to highlight that it is very important that we promote the progressive protection of Antarctica. And yes, it is a continent that is far away, but it is always here, keeping us alive, “he said.
Weather, gas and war in Ukraine
During the press conference, the ministers expressed their solidarity with Ukraine, while highlighting the need to reduce energy dependence on Russia, but without reaching specific commitments.
Robert Habeck gave the example of Germany, which continues to import approximately 33,000 million cubic meters of gas from Moscow, for which he emphasized that each country has a different starting point and that it is possible that full independence from Russia will only be achieved until 2024. or 2025.
However, he stressed that the best thing would be to abandon the use of gas as a form of energy as soon as possible to begin implementing renewable and environmentally friendly resources.
For his part, Alok Sharma, president of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, urged countries to remain determined to meet the challenges around climate, energy and the environment, despite the crisis in the international scene.
“Sadly the war has returned to Europe. And we are seeing the tectonic plates within our geopolitics also changing. We are seeing a spike in inflation. We are seeing a rise in debt, we are seeing a rise in energy prices. And to Globally, people are struggling to feed their families, all while we continue to deal with the effects of the pandemic,” Sharma said.
In addition, the president described Russia’s military attack against Ukraine as “illegal and brutal.”
With EFE and Reuters
#ministers #raise #bar #climate #energy #targets