Great Seven Members decided to abandon the use of coal as fuel, Bloomberg writes. So they are going to bring their policies in line with the tasks of the Paris CLIMATE Agreement from 2015.
On May 21, a meeting of Ministers of Ecology, Climate and Environment “Big Seven” was decided to terminate the financing of international projects involving coal.
In addition, the Country Seven countries (United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, USA, Canada and Japan) agreed to take on “commitments to significantly reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere in the 2020s.” What exactly they will be concluded, not specifying.
Japan was actively advocated against the agreements, which at the end of 2019 had more than half of the total 6.6 billion dollars aimed at investing in coal projects by the Country Seven countries. However, as a result, Tokyo agreed to unite efforts with other community participants.
At the same time, some relaxation are allowed in the communiqué on the basis of the meeting. In particular, only government investments in coal projects will fall under restrictions.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2017, 5.2 trillion dollars were invested in coal projects around the world, which corresponded to 6.5 percent of the global economy at that time. According to the organization, one of the solutions of the problem could be more efficient pricing in the coal market. So, higher prices for this kind of fossil might lead to a decrease in emissions by 28 percent per year.
In accordance with the Paris climate agreement, countries around the world should take measures to achieve a common goal – to preserve the rates of increasing global temperature level 1.5 degrees Celsius per year. At the same time, each participant of the Agreement may take on its own, not aggravated in advance.