G7 ministers call for “new climate partnerships” with emerging and developing countries
Clean Energy Wire
Foreign ministers of the seven leading western industrialised states (G7) have committed to supporting emerging and developing countries in their endeavour to transition towards climate neutrality through. The G7 would engage in “new climate partnerships“ by "matching high ambition with the necessary means to accelerate this transition", said the final communiqué released after a meeting under the German G7 presidency. Areas for cooperation include financing, access to green technologies, technical assistance and exchange of experience based on just transition processes in the respective domestic markets. The ministers also adopted a “Statement on Climate, Environment, Peace and Security.” Following on a separate meeting, the G7 agriculture ministers said the group would continue to work towards sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems and strive to "show international leadership and ambition in finding pathways towards sustainable food systems, responding to the agricultural crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and in investing responsibly in the future.”
NGO Germanwatch largely welcomed the outcome of the G7 meetings with respect to climate policy but said “a lot of work remains” to be done ahead of the summit in Elmau, Bavaria, in late June. The foreign ministers had announced key steps towards a more climate-friendly world, such as stepping up climate action in this decade, doubling climate adaptation financing, or establishing energy transition partnerships with emerging and developing nations, said the head of the Berlin office, Lutz Weischer. “What matters now is to back up these steps with financial commitments and to actually take them.”
The government wants to use this year’s presidency of the G7 group of influential industrialised nations and democracies to improve the coordination of global efforts to combat climate change. The country is pushing for the establishment of an international climate club of countries with ambitious policy. Cooperation with emerging and developing countries, especially on infrastructure, is also a key goal.
