G-7 nations to accelerate efforts to slow global warming

Environment ministers from seven leading industrialized nations agreed Friday to accelerate efforts to slow global warming, including a commitment to end government support for new coal-fired power plants by the end of this year

LONDON -- Environment ministers from seven leading industrialized nations agreed Friday to accelerate efforts to slow global warming, including a commitment to end government support for new coal-fired power plants by the end of this year. The pledges were part of a wide-ranging communique issued by Group of Seven environment ministers after a two-day virtual meeting hosted by the U.K., which holds the G-7’s rotating presidency. At the heart of the document is a commitment to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, compared to the previous goal of 2 degrees. The ministers also promised to combat deforestation and overfishing, to promote biodiversity and to tackle the scourge of ocean plastic, while seeking to prevent future outbreaks of diseases like COVID-19 that spread from animals to humans. “We acknowledge with grave concern that the unprecedented and interdependent crises of climate change and biodiversity loss pose an existential threat to nature, people, prosperity and security…,” the ministers said in the communique. “We recognize that climate change and the health of the natural environment are intrinsically linked and will ensure that the actions we take maximize the opportunities to solve these crises in parallel.”