Hiroshima, 20 May 2023 - The G7 Summit has concluded with its members endorsing new fossil gas in the midst of ongoing climate emergency, demonstrating a complete denial of the havoc fossil fuel emissions have been wreaking on our planet.
Tracy Carty, Global Climate Politics Expert at Greenpeace International, said:
"G7 leaders have ignored warnings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: act now or it will be too late for 1.5°C. Faced with the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels, what leaders have brought to the table represents an endorsement of new fossil gas. The gap between G7 ambition and what climate science demands is stark and widening. When G7 leaders refuse to shift gear, they doom current and future generations to sink deeper in a climate crisis. Time is running out.
"G7 leaders' endorsement of new fossil gas is a blunt denial of the climate emergency. One of the biggest fossil fuel threats today is coming from a rapidly expanding liquified natural gas (LNG) industry. Fossil gas is one of the most polluting forms of energy and in its liquefied form, its carbon emissions can be as bad as coal."
Hirotaka Koike, Senior Political and External Affairs Officer, Greenpeace Japan, said:
"As the world grows hotter, Japan has delivered a lukewarm agreement on climate. Japan blocked a 2030 coal phase out date, despite coal being accountable for around40% of energy related CO2 emissions globally. Similarly, Japan has been an obstacle to making any firm commitments to seriously accelerate zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales. Japan is promotingg dangerous false solutions which have long-term lock-in effects, such as ammonia co-firing and carbon capture utilization and storage. These approaches contradict scientific evidence and most developing countries' national climate plans, only serving industrial interests. Exporting false solutions will impede global efforts to address climate change.
"While calling for an end to additional plastic pollution to all environments by 2040, they must agree to limit plastic production in the upcoming 2nd session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for Global Plastic Treaty."
