G7 to sign exit from coal by 2035, but may offer leeway, sources say

By Francesca Landini

TURIN (Reuters) -Energy ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies will sign a deal to end the use of coal in power generation between 2030 and 2035, but could offer a leeway to Germany and Japan, two diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

G7 countries will pledge to shut down their coal-fired plants in the first half of the 2030s but may also say countries could also opt for a date consistent with keeping a limit of 1.5°C global temperature rise within reach, the sources said.

This caveat would give room for manoeuvre to Berlin and Tokyo, whose coal-fired plants produce more than one-fourth of their total electricity, sources said.

Germany has written in its legislation a final target to shut coal plants by 2038 at the latest, while Japan has not set a date.

The agreement on coal would mark a significant step in the direction indicated last year by the COP28 United Nations climate summit to phase out fossil fuels, of which coal is the most polluting.

The G7 ministers’ final communique is expected to be published in the early afternoon when ministers from Italy, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan will rubber stamp a technical agreement reached on Monday.

Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who chairs the G7 meeting, said the ministers were also discussing potential restrictions to Russian imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.

“The issue is on the technical and political agenda (of the G7). We are working on it, I cannot go any further… if there is a final decision I will communicate it,” the minister told reporters on Monday.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Gavin Jones, Alvise Armellini, Jan Harvey, Jonathan Oatis and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)