G7 leaders warned against fossil fuels

A new report from climate think-tank E3G implores G7 leaders to reject a return to fossil fuels, during their recent meeting in Germany.

The report states that last year, developing countries collectively invested £52.3 billion into renewable energy, and that this is nowhere near enough for net zero to be met.

At the 48th G7 summit this weekend, leaders have an opportunity to enact plans for countries to access the finance they need to distance themselves from fossil fuels.

At their 2021 summit last June and again in December, the G7 set the ambition, promising “a step change in our approach to financing quality and sustainable infrastructure”.

But it’s time to turn this commitment into action.

Climate action

Clearly, political efforts have recenty been directed elsewhere in Europe. However, it is still possible for G7 leaders to deliver on their promised climate action.

Climate action must be ambitious. Anything less than this would fail to “scale up from billions to trillions in finance”, as the G7 put it in December.

Currently, the pace of investment in sustainable infrastructure is too slow. According to BloombergNEF, developing countries collectively invested just £52.3 billion in renewable energy in 2021, which is nowhere near enough for net zero to be met.

G7 leaders must to deliver a new mechanism, that won’t get stuck in legislative ‘red tape’.

This new mechanism must mobilise the institutional investor capital that is already backing clean energy in wealthy countries. It must happen in a way that does not leave renewables projects in developing countries with prohibitive financing costs.

As the G7 meet in Germany, to discuss various pressing political issues, E3G stressed that progressing clean energy and mobilising climate finance for the rest of the world should be a priority.

Alarmingly, given European tensions around energy supply, some members of the G7, including Italy and Germany have suggested reopening some disused coal plants to fight rocketing energy costs. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also suggested the idea of building a new coal mine in Cumbria.

Find out more

For more information, visit Northern Gas and Power‘s Daily Market Report here.

Below, our Head of Flexible Purchasing and Energy Strategy, Latif Faiyaz, breaks down the key drivers affecting market behaviour this year.

Latif provides analysis of UK, European and global factors and provides a forecast for the remainder of the year.

Here’s the video 👇