G7 ministers agree on ‘drastic’ increase in renewable energy -source

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SAPPORO — The Group of Seven rich nations have agreed to call for “drastically” increasing electricity from renewable sources and are considering targets for solar and wind power, a person familiar with the talks said.

But G7 environment and energy ministers, meeting in Sapporo in northern Japan for climate and energy talks on Saturday and Sunday, could not reach agreement on a specific date to exit coal power, according to France’s energy transition minister.

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Security, already tight around the event, was given greater immediacy after an explosion disrupted an outdoor speech by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the western part of the country.

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The premier was unharmed and police subdued a man at the scene. Kishida’s foreign ministry said there would be no change to G7 security. The group’s foreign ministers are meeting from Sunday in the resort city of Karuizawa.

The G7 decided to endorse a goal to “drastically increase electricity generated by renewable energies,” the person with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters, asking not to be identified because the information is not public.

Ministers also appeared to be considering numerical targets for increasing solar power capacity to at least 1 terawatt and offshore wind power capacity to 150 gigawatts by 2030, the source said.

They could not come to agreement on a specific date to exit coal, although they agreed there should be no new coal-fired power plants, France’s Agnes Pannier-Runacher said.

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The event has also put focus on the need to help emerging countries reduce emissions, including through financing

“We, the G7, need to not only reduce our own emissions but also take concrete actions to achieve emission reductions globally,” Japan’s Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said in his opening remarks, singling out countries in the “Global South.”

Nishimura said ministers would like to discuss ways to use finance to help reduce carbon in so-called “hard-to-abate” industries, which include chemicals, shipping and steel.

‘STRONGER LEADERSHIP’

The issue of emissions in emerging markets has long been a focus for developed countries. However, the world’s richest countries need to do more to help emerging nations reduce carbon, said Alden Meyer, a senior associate at E3G, a climate change think tank.

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“There’s a responsibility for the G7 and other developed countries to provide finance and to mobilize private finance as well to help the decarbonisation of the developing countries,” Meyer told a briefing ahead of the start of the G7 meeting.

G7 countries must exert “much stronger leadership” in leveraging financial and technology resources to help developing countries reduce emissions, Meyer said.

“Smart” government regulation was needed to help make hydrogen and carbon capture technologies more attractive and viable, said Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates minister of industry and advanced technology, told a closed session, according to his remarks seen by Reuters.

He said nuclear investment needed to be expanded. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi in Sapporo; Additional reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels and Makiko Yamazaki in Tokyo and Maha El Dahan; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by William Mallard)