Agreement Allows Exceptions for Most Coal-Dependent Countries, with Space for Carbon Capture Technologies

by Marco Arezio

G7 countries' ministers agreed to terminate the use of coal power plants not equipped with emission abatement technologies by 2035, yet leaving a loophole for those countries heavily reliant on coal, allowing them to exceed this deadline.

After two days of talks in Turin, Italy, they pledged to "gradually phase out the generation of electricity from untreated coal in our energy systems during the first half of the 2030s" to curb the rise in global greenhouse gas emissions.

The statement marks a significant climate milestone for the G7 countries - the UK, US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan - which had not been able to reach an agreement on phasing out coal after several years of discussions.

Italian Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who chaired the meeting, stated, "This is the first time a path and a goal have been set regarding coal."

"It's a very strong signal from the industrialized countries. It's a big signal to the world to reduce coal."

The document refers to untreated coal, which leaves room for countries to continue burning coal to generate electricity if the power plants are equipped with carbon capture technology to prevent emissions from entering the atmosphere.

It also provides some flexibility for heavily coal-dependent countries like Japan and Germany, offering the option of "a timeline consistent with maintaining a limit of 1.5°C" of global warming above pre-industrial levels.

The world's biggest coal power consumers, China and India, have continued to build new coal plants despite warnings from experts that 6% of the world's coal capacity must be shut down every year until 2040 to avoid a climate emergency.

All coal plants should be shut down by 2040 – unless they are fitted with effective carbon removal technology – if governments hope to limit global warming to within 1.5°C.

The G7 agreement emerged just days after the US Environmental Protection Agency established new rules that will require coal-fired power plants to either capture nearly all their climate pollution or shut down before 2040. Coal accounts for 16% of the US electricity system, according to the think tank Ember.

In the UK, coal-fired power production is set to end this year with the closure of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal plant in Nottinghamshire in September. Last year, the plant generated just 1% of the UK's electricity.

In Canada and Italy, coal power accounted for less than 6% of the energy mix, yet it still comprises 32% of Japan's electricity mix and 27% of Germany's.