G7 MINISTERS MEETING ON CLIMATE, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT

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Context

• The Group of Seven rich nations set big new collective targets for solar power and offshore wind capacity, agreeing to speed up renewable energy development and move toward a quicker phase-out of fossil fuels.

Highlights of the meet

Coal

• They stopped short of endorsing a 2030 deadline for phasing out coal that Canada and other members had pushed for.
• They acknowledged that there are diverse pathways to achieve carbon neutral and agreed on the importance of aiming for a common goal toward 2050.
• On coal, the countries agreed to prioritise "concrete and timely steps" towards accelerating the phase-out of "domestic, unabated coal power generation", as a part of a commitment last year to achieve at least a "predominantly" decarbonised power sector by 2035.

Solar and Wind Power

• The members pledged to collectively increase offshore wind capacity by 150 gigawatts by 2030 and solar capacity to more than 1 terawatt.

Fossil Fuels

• They agreed to accelerate "the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels" - the burning of fossil fuels without using technology to capture the resulting C02 emissions - to achieve net zero in energy systems by 2050 at the latest.

Gas Sector

• They left the door open for continued investment in gas, saying that sector could help address potential energy shortfalls.
• The G7 members said investment in the gas sector "can be appropriate" to address potential market shortfalls provoked by the crisis in Ukraine, if implemented in a manner consistent with climate objectives.

Plastic Pollution

• They targeted 2040 for reducing additional plastic pollution to zero, bringing the target forward by a decade.

India’s participation

• Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav had also participated in the summit with India being invited as a ‘guest’, in the context of its presidency of the G-20.
• At the United Nations-Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in Glasgow in 2021, India had objected to language in the agreement to “phase out” and pushed instead for a “phase down” of coal.
• India and China are significantly dependent on coal for electricity, whereas several developed countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada and Europe, are reliant on gas reserves.

About G7

Members

• The G-7 or ‘Group of Seven’ are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• The rise of India, China, and Brazil over the past few decades has reduced the G-7’s relevance, whose share in global GDP has now fallen to around 40%.

History

• It is an intergovernmental organisation that was formed in 1975by the top economies of the time as an informal forum to discuss pressing world issues.
• Canada joined the group in 1976, and the European Union began attending in 1977.
• Initially formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues, the G-7 forum has deliberated about several challenges over the decades, such as the oil crashes of the 1970s, the economic changeover of ex-Soviet bloc nations, and many pressing issues such as financial crises, terrorism, arms control, and drug trafficking.
• The G-7 was known as the ‘G-8’ for several years after the original seven were joined by Russia in 1997.
• The Group returned to being called G-7 after Russia was expelled as a member in 2014 following the latter’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.

Working

• The G-7 does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters.
• The decisions taken by leaders during annual summits are non-binding.
• The G-7 nations meet at annual summits that are presided over by leaders of member countries on a rotational basis.
• The summit is an informal gathering that lasts two days, in which leaders of member countries discuss a wide range of global issues.
• The host country typically gets to invite dignitaries from outside the G-7 to attend the Summit.

Other G groupings

G-20

• The G-20 is a larger group of countries, which also includes G7 members.
• The G-20 was formed in 1999, in response to a felt need to bring more countries on board to address global economic concerns.
• Apart from the G-7 countries, the G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.
• Together, the G-20 countries make up around 80% of the world’s economy.

G-10

• The Group of Ten (G10) refers to the group of countries that have agreed to participate in the General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB), a supplementary borrowing arrangement that can be invoked if the IMF’s resources are estimated to be below a member’s needs.
• G10: Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, United States, Japan

Group of Fifteen

• It was established at the Ninth Non-Aligned Summit Meeting in Belgrade, then Yugoslavia, in September 1989.
• It is composed of countries from Latin America, Africa, and Asia with a common goal of enhanced growth and prosperity.
• The membership of the G15 has since expanded to 17 countries but the name has remained unchanged.
• G15 Members: Algeria, Indonesia, Nigeria, Argentina, Iran, Islamic Republic of Senegal, Brazil, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Chile, Kenya, Venezuela, República Bolivariana de, Egypt, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, India, Mexico

G24

• Originally a chapter of the G77, was established in 1971 to coordinate the positions of emerging markets and developing countries on international monetary and development finance issues and to ensure that their interests were adequately represented at the Bretton Woods Institutions, particularly in the IMFC and Development Committee meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
• The group—officially called the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development—is not an organ of the IMF but the IMF provides secretariat services for the Group.
• India is a member.

G77

• It was established in 1964 at the end of the first session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.
• It was formed to articulate and promote the collective economic interests of its members and to strengthen their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues in the United Nations system.
• The membership of the G77 has since expanded to 134 member countries but the original name has been retained because of its historical significance. 

G33

• Friends of Special Products in agriculture is a coalition of developing countries, established prior to the 2003 Cancun ministerial conference, that have coordinated during the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations, specifically in regard to agriculture.
• Dominated by India, the group has "defensive" concerns regarding agriculture in relation to World Trade Organization negotiations, and seeks to limit the degree of market opening required of developing countries.

PRACTICE QUESTION Q) Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies is a key component of delivering on the Paris Agreement whereas India is pushing instead for a phase down of coal. Discuss. (250 words)

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