The Group of seven countries announced on Tuesday that its member countries would end the use of “unabated” coal by 2035, but left the door open for countries to extend that deadline in certain contexts.
In a statement issued after talks between energy, climate and environment ministers in Turin, Italy, the group announced a breakthrough in climate policy, pledging to “phase out current unabated coal power generation in our energy systems in the first half of the 2030s.” Something G7 negotiators had previously failed to achieve in several years of negotiations.
But the agreement allows countries to use the fossil fuel after 2035 if carbon pollution is detected before it enters the atmosphere, referring to “unabated” coal.
The agreement also includes a warning that countries can choose “a timeline consistent with keeping the 1.5°C temperature rise within an achievable limit, in line with countries’ net zero pathways.”
This caveat appears to allow these countries to continue using coal after 2035 as long as their overall national emissions do not contribute to global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Science shows that some of the planet’s ecosystems will reach tipping points or struggle to adapt beyond that point.
Many members of the G7, which represents the largest economies in the developed world, are already close to ending coal use. Coal makes up less than 6% of the electricity mix in the UK, Italy and Canada, while it is almost non-existent in France. But it still accounts for 32% of Japan’s electricity mix, 27% in Germany and 16% in the United States, according to think tank Ember.
The deal comes just days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules that would require coal-fired power plants to either capture almost all of their climate pollution or be shut down by 2039. CNN has reached out to the White House and State Department for comment. .
When asked by journalists about the warnings in the G7 agreement, Italian Minister of Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, defended the agreement and said that the statement shows: “G7 countries are committed to phasing out the use of coal without endangering the economic and social situation of various countries. balance.”
The language is weaker than what UK minister Andrew Bowie told a reporter on Monday: The group agreed to phase out coal by 2035, with no reference to unabated coal or leeway on the timeline.
Despite the warnings, many climate policy experts welcomed the announcement, calling it a breakthrough after years of obstruction on the issue.
“Stamping an end date to the coal age is exactly the kind of leadership we need from the world’s richest countries,” said Jennifer Layke, global energy director at the World Resources Institute. “This decision provides a glimmer of hope for the rest of the world and shows that the transition away from coal can happen much faster than many think.”
But think tank Climate Analytics said the announcement would put pressure on Japan, the only G7 member that has not set an end date for coal, but said the 2035 deadline was too late to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
An analysis by the think tank shows that to prevent global warming from exceeding the 1.5 degree threshold, all coal use in G7 countries must end by 2030 at the latest, and natural gas use by 2035.
“Many of these countries have already publicly committed to phasing out dates before 2030, and they already have very little coal capacity,” said Jane Ellis, head of climate policy at Climate Analytics.
Ellis added that it was notable that there was no mention of phasing out the gas. “Over the last decade, gas has been the largest source of global growth in CO2 emissions, and many G7 governments are investing in new domestic gas plants. “This is clearly the wrong direction to be heading, both economically and climate-wise.”
Ellis said the G7 must make the transition to renewable energy faster.
Fossil fuels are the primary cause of the climate crisis, and coal is often the most polluting of all fossil fuels. But putting an end date on coal is highly controversial. Japan has blocked progress on the issue at past G7 meetings, CNN previously reported.
At the COP28 climate talks held in Dubai last year, almost every country in the world agreed to move away from fossil fuels, but not setting an end date for coal was seen as a shortcoming of these negotiations.
The G7 generally leads global climate policy. The group’s decisions often influence or affect the broader G20, which includes other major emitters such as China and India, as well as major fossil fuel producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Ella Nilsen and Laura Paddison contributed to this report.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com