None of G7 economies on track to meet 2030 mitigation targets, shows report

None of the G7 members are on track to meet their existing emission reduction targets for 2030, according to a new analysis released on Tuesday.

The analysis by Climate Analytics, a global climate science and policy institute, comes ahead of the G7 climate, energy, and environment ministers' meeting in Venaria Reale, Italy, during April 28-30.

The G7 collectively aims to achieve a 40-42 per cent emission reduction by 2030 but existing policies suggest that it will likely achieve only 19-33 per cent by the end of this decade, the analysis showed.

This is at best around half of what is needed and would lead to greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 exceeding a 1.5 degrees Celsius compatible level by around four gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Such a shortfall in ambition does not provide the leadership signal needed from the world's richest countries, making up around 38 per cent of the global economy and responsible for 21 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, the researchers said.

The G7 economies need to slash their emissions by 58 per cent by 2030 compared to the 2019 levels to do their part to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, they said.

"These economies, who make up 38 per cent of the world's GDP, are not pulling their weight: they have both the technology and the finance to up their game. Against the backdrop of unprecedented climate extremes exacerbated by the use of fossil fuels, taking ambitious action to decarbonise and setting a deadline to move away from fossil fuels should be the bare minimum," said Neil Grant, the lead author of the analysis.

The researchers recommended that the G7 commit new and additional international climate finance, well beyond the $ 100 billion goal, and develop innovative financing instruments to accelerate the provision of accessible finance to vulnerable countries.

These economies, the analysis said, should commit to phasing out domestic coal and fossil gas power generation by 2030 and 2035, respectively, and end public financing and other support for fossil fuels abroad.

Italy and Japan, the current and preceding presidency of the G7, rank among the top five countries subsidising fossil fuel projects in the G20.

The researchers also recommended that G7 economies accelerate towards the global goal of tripling renewables and doubling energy efficiency by 2030 which, according to the International Energy Agency, is crucial to limiting average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The G7 is made up of the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. Representatives from the European Union also attend its annual summits.