Guilbeault 'optimistic' about the phase out of coal by G7 countries

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said Thursday he's "very optimistic" this week's meeting of G7 climate and energy ministers will produce a consensus to gradually phase out the use of coal.

Ministers and senior officials from the G7 countries are holding a three-day meeting in Berlin during which they will seek to agree on common targets for the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, which scientists say is urgently needed to curb climate change.

Guilbeault told The Canadian Press from the German capital that he is insisting "on the importance of strong international action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and ensure that the 1.5°C warming target remains achievable."

Guilbeault said he thinks his counterparts in the Group of Seven countries — the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Japan — agree with him that "we need to reduce, even eliminate the use of coal."

But, he said, "it remains to be seen where we will land precisely." The ministers need to publish a communiqué on Friday, at the conclusion of the meeting. And there have been reports that Japan and the United States are pushing back against having anything firm about reducing coal in the wording of the document.

Robert Habeck, German minister for economic affairs and climate action, said on Thursday that G7 countries "can perhaps take on a certain pioneering role to push forward ending the use of coal for electricity and in decarbonizing the transport system."

G7 members Britain, France and Italy have set deadlines to stop burning coal for electricity in the next few years, while Germany and Canada are aiming for 2030. Japan wants more time, and the Biden administration has set a target of ending fossil fuel use for electricity generation in the United States by 2035.

Guilbeault, meanwhile, said the G7 doesn't intend to sacrifice climate goals to fill the gap in fossil fuels entering Europe caused by sanctions levied on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. He said the the climate ministers recognize they "cannot sacrifice the fight against climate change in the name of energy security, and the members of the G7 are unanimous and unequivocal on this."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2022.

— With files from The Associated Press.