Energy and environment ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries meeting in Turin have reportedly reached a deal to shut down their coal-fired power plants in the first half of the 2030s. Italian energy minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who is chairing the meeting said there is a technical agreement pending a final political decision.
Ministers from the G7, which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the US convened for four working sessions over two days at the 17th-century Palace of Venaria. Delegations from Dubai and Azerbaijan also attended, as well as representatives from Brazil, which is hosting the G20 this year. Pichetto Fratin said ministers are discussing "renewables, energy efficiency, phasing out fossil fuels" as well as "research for next-generation nuclear power, fusion, the circular economy, critical raw materials, biofuels”.
The agreement on coal is in line with decisions by the COP28 United Nations climate summit in 2023 to phase out fossil fuels, of which coal is the most polluting. On the first of the two days of talks, British Nuclear & Renewables Minister Andrew Bowie told CNBC: “We do have an agreement to phase out coal in the first half of the 2030s". AFP said the G7 looked likely to commit to close the plants "in the first half of the 2030s", citing a European source. However, Pichetto Fratin told journalists the timeline was "a hypothesis". He added: "There is a technical agreement on it, but we are working on the political aspect." objective is "to make the course set out by COP28 practical, real, concrete".
Italy, which produces some 4.7% of its total electricity from coal, plans to turn off its plants by 2025, except on the island of Sardinia where the deadline is 2028. Germany and Japan, where coal plays a bigger role accounting for more than 25% of electricity production in 2023, were more hesitant.
Gas is another contentious issue. Germany, which is Europe's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is reluctant to transitioning away from gas, as is Italy, which has ambitions to become a gas hub for Europe, seeking new suppliers in the Mediterranean and Africa and expanding gas infrastructure.
Luca Bergamaschi, the founder of the Italian climate think tank ECCO, has questioned whether gas is essential for Italy’s energy security, and has also criticised Italy’s growing interest in emerging technologies such as nuclear fission and fusion.
Pichetto Fratin said at an event ahead of the G7 energy meeting that nuclear energy would allow Italy to protect the environment, but also achieve energy independence. "A contribution from nuclear energy in our energy mix would help Italy a lot in meeting the net zero target by 2050."
However, Germany is resisting a proposal by Italy to agree for broad support for nuclear energy as a transition from fossil fuel, Reuters reported quoting diplomatic sources. Pichetto Fratin also expressed support for the development of small nuclear reactors. Italy’s Energy Ministry announced that Italy would join a European industrial alliance to develop such reactors.
Nuclear industry groups issued a statement calling for G7 governments to embrace nuclear deployment as a strategic priority, by maximising use of existing nuclear power plants and setting clear plans for further deployment that would fulfil the targets they set at COP28, to triple global nuclear capacity. The statement, presented to Pichetto Fratin, was signed by the heads of Associazione Italiana Nucleare, Canadian Nuclear Association, Groupement des Industriels Français de l'Energie Nucléaire (Gifen), Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Nuclear Energy Institute, Nuclear Industry Association, Nucleareurope and World Nuclear Association.
The associations said they are committed to "ensuring safe and secure operation of nuclear facilities to provide always-on, affordable, clean low-carbon electricity and heat; to complement renewables in the pursuit of achieving net-zero in electricity generation; to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, such as heavy industry, and to provide high-quality long-term jobs that drive economic growth."
They noted that nuclear energy's role to support climate change mitigation was "unanimously agreed" in COP28's Global Stocktake, and 25 countries demonstrated greater ambition, setting a goal to triple nuclear capacity globally by 2050 in a declaration during COP.
In March, at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, more than 30 countries, including six of the G7, re-emphasised that nuclear energy has a key role to play to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure energy security and industrial competitiveness.
"We urge G7 governments to set out clear plans for nuclear energy deployment that would fulfil the targets they set at COP28 and to demonstrate their commitment to nuclear energy, giving clear signals to markets and investors," the industry statement says. "We therefore encourage governments to help maximise the use of existing nuclear power plants, including by extending the operating period of reactors and restarting those that have shutdown, where feasible."
The industry calls for G7 governments to accelerate the deployment of new nuclear facilities based on proven designs, and accelerate the development, demonstration, and deployment of new nuclear technologies, including new large reactors as well as small modular reactors and advanced modular reactors, to achieve net-zero in electricity generation, and help decarbonise non-grid, hard-to-abate sectors, such as heat supply for heavy industry, hydrogen production and the manufacturing of synthetic fuels.
The associations said G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers must take decisive action by:
- establishing optimum conditions through consistent and coherent long-term policies that enable the extension of the operating life of existing reactors and facilitate fleet deployment of nuclear technologies;
- providing clarity to investors on the funding and investment recovery mechanisms available for nuclear projects;
- ensuring ready access to national and international climate finance mechanisms for nuclear development; ensuring that multilateral financial institutions include nuclear energy in their investment portfolios;
- clearly and unambiguously labelling nuclear energy and the associated fuel cycle as a sustainable investment; and
- promoting development of the supply chain commensurate with expansion targets and continue investment in nuclear research.
All this comes as a new report from the German-based Climate Analytics policy institute indicated that the G7 is significantly falling short of its targets. Collectively, the G7 constitutes approximately 38% of the global economy and was accountable for 21% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. “None of the G7 members are on track to meet their existing emission reduction targets for 2030, which are not yet collectively aligned with 1.5°C, according to a brief from the institute. “Under current policies, the G7 are set to reduce emissions by 19-33% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. This is at best around half of what is needed, which we estimate to be reductions of at least 58% over the same time period.
The brief outlined seven key policy recommendations for the G7 summit in June that “would demonstrate the ambition and leadership needed by the G7 to keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit in sight”. The G7 governments need to:
- Commit to collectively lower the G7’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 58% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels, and at least 75% by 2035.
- Strengthen national 2030 climate targets so that they are aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature goal.
- Strengthen the implementation of policies needed to achieve these targets.
- Commit to phasing out domestic coal and fossil gas power generation by 2030 and 2035 respectively.
- End public financing and other support for fossil fuels abroad.
- Accelerate towards the global goal of tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.
- Commit new and additional international climate finance in line with their national circumstances, to go well beyond the 100 billion goal, and develop innovative financing instruments to accelerate the provision of accessible finance to vulnerable countries.
Meanwhile, protesters took to the streets blocking Turin's northern ring road, burning images of the G7 leaders, accusing them of failing future generations in relation to the climate crisis. Protesters set pictures of G7 leaders on fire chanting, "Them 7, us 99%".
