At the recent G7 Ministerial Meeting on Climate, Energy and the Environment held in Turin, Italy, energy and climate leaders achieved consensus on several key actions. These actions underscore a unified commitment to advance clean energy transition, bolster global energy security, and set the stage for further efforts at this year's G20 and COP29 in Azerbaijan.
The G7 is an intergovernmental forum of major economies and democratic allies including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union also participates in these meetings. The forum convenes annually to discuss pressing political and economic issues and coordinate policy.
A unanimous Ministerial Communique translated a series of energy and climate pledges from the Dubai agreement into concrete implementation actions by the G7 members. In a landmark decision, the G7 reached its first-ever consensus commitment to phase out existing unabated coal power generation in energy systems during the first half of the 2030s. This decision aligns with the IEA’s 2023 Net-Zero Roadmap Report which suggests that advanced economies should phase out coal by 2035.
Additionally, the G7 committed to a quantitative global goal to increase energy storage in the power sector to 1500 GW by 2030—a more than six-fold increase from 230 GW in 2022. This commitment will advance COP28's global goal to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
The Ministerial Communique also recognized nuclear energy as a key component of “clean/zero emissions” energy. It includes commitments to promote responsible deployment of nuclear technologies and condemns Russia’s seizure and militarization of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Other notable outcomes include a historic fusion energy outcome involving international collaboration and creation of a first-ever G7 working group on this groundbreaking technology. The G7 also committed to phase out sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in new switchgear applications by 2035. SF6 is an energy-sector gas whose emissions are significantly more potent than CO2.
The G7 also made a resounding condemnation of Russia’s war in Ukraine and emphasized unwavering solidarity for the people of Ukraine. Members committed to ending "significant dependency" on Russian gas imports as soon as possible and redoubled their commitment to Ukraine’s energy security.