Notice

Statement by the G7 Presidency of the UK Net-Zero Power: Commitment to Action

Published 20 October 2021

This year, leading by example, the G7 have committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest, recognising this is essential to meet the Paris Agreement and limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. To achieve net zero, we must accelerate the decarbonisation of the power sector, ensuring both a step change in emissions reductions and in providing carbon-free electricity for other sectors in our future economies. Earlier this year the G7 collectively committed to rapidly scale-up technologies and policies that further accelerate the transition away from unabated coal capacity and to an overwhelmingly decarbonised power system in the 2030s.

We welcome the International Energy Agency (IEA)’s report, prepared at the request of UK’s G7 Presidency, Achieving Net Zero Electricity Sectors in G7 Members, and its valuable contribution informing our collective power sector commitment. The IEA and G7 members, alongside guest countries Australia and India, convened to discuss the recommendations of the report. We recognised the jobs and growth opportunities this transformation will unlock as our economies build back better and greener. We considered how the G7 can enhance collaboration and coordination in our efforts to enable the breakthroughs required to achieve a dramatic acceleration in innovation and deployment of clean energy solutions, as well as the support we can provide to middle income and developing countries towards these goals.

Decarbonising power systems in the 2030s requires the G7 to further scale-up renewables deployment and triple investment in generating clean power and supporting grid infrastructure in the next decade. Delivering the potential of energy efficiency, ‘the first fuel’ to reduce emissions, is also essential to a just and people-centred energy transition, energy security and job creation. The IEA’s G7 report and its Net Zero by 2050 roadmap published in May said that phasing out unabated coal in all advanced economies, including the G7, by 2030, and globally by 2040 are critical milestones. At the Carbis Bay Summit, G7 Leaders stressed that international investments in unabated coal must stop now, and collectively committed to end new direct government support for unabated international coal power generation by the end of 2021. We welcome those countries who have taken similar steps since then and encourage others to do likewise in the run up to COP26, such as by supporting the No New Coal Power Compact and the Powering Past Coal Alliance.

Finally, international collaboration is key to accelerating innovation and deployment of clean technologies. The report is clear that without strong international cooperation the transition to net zero emissions could be delayed by decades, making it impossible to keep 1.5°C within reach. We recognise the G7’s transition towards net zero power systems will provide valuable experience for all countries considering their future energy pathways. We note Mission Innovation’s goal to demonstrate by 2030 that power systems in different geographies and climates are able to effectively integrate up to 100% variable renewable energies.

The G7 is committed to exploring ways that we can further accelerate global progress towards net zero power, including leading by example as the G7, and working with collaborative initiatives and institutions. A range of institutions are working with international partners, including G7 members, to develop and deploy critical initiatives in the power sector, not least the work of the IEA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the Clean Energy Ministerial, Mission Innovation, the Super-Efficient Appliance Deployment Initiative, and the work of the Powering Past Coal Alliance and the Energy Transition Council. The UK’s incoming Presidency for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change conference (UNFCCC COP26) in Glasgow, in partnership with Italy, aims to bring the efforts of many of these initiatives together to support a 2030 vision and global agenda for the power sector at COP26.

The UK G7 Presidency welcomes the milestones and recommendations set out in the report and values the role the IEA has in tracking and reviewing progress on the global energy transition. The report’s findings will contribute to informing further action and we hope it will lay the groundwork for collaboration between G7 members going forward.