Climate-friendly recovery key issue at G7 finance ministers’ summit in May

The new German finance minister, Christian Lindner, has said climate action and sustainable finance will be two core topics during the country’s G7 presidency throughout 2022. Lindner said the current economic and financial turmoil around the world resulting from the coronavirus pandemic had highlighted the need for a concerted response by the influential G7 economies. “That’s why we’ll also put digital transformation and the transition towards a climate neutral economy on the finance ministers’ and central bank leaders’ agenda,” he said. Lindner, head of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), will invite his G7 colleagues to a finance summit in Bonn on 18 - 20 May and will also coordinate the positions of the group’s finance ministers in other international settings, such as the G20. “We need to grow out of this crisis with solid state budgets and tackle climate change,” he said.

The new German government coalition, which includes the FDP, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party, wants to use this year’s G7 presidency to generally improve the coordination of global efforts to combat climate change. Finance minister Linder, whom some international observers have suspected of becoming the new face of German parsimony, has sought to assuage doubts he could stay tight-fisted in funding emissions reduction measures, arguing his role will be to enable the government to carry out its climate plans financially in line with market principles.