VENARIA REALE (Turin) – Exit coal by the middle of the next decade. At the end of the first day of work on G7 Climate, energy and environment the minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin meets the press but is careful not to confirm the rumors that have been going around for hours now: “There is a technical agreement on coal, we are working on the political agreement. As president of the G7 I will comment on the decisions taken only when they have been written in the final document.”
The agreement on stopping coal by 2035 was revealed a few hours earlier by British Energy Minister Andrew Bowie during a break in the work underway at the Venaria Reale in Turin: “This is a historic agreement. Being able to have the G7 countries around the table sending a signal to the world that advanced economies are ready to abandon coal is incredible.”
On the other hand, all the G7 economies, with the exception of Japan, have long since embarked on a path to free themselves from the most polluting of fossil fuels. Pichetto Fratin himself confirmed that for mainland Italy it is a matter of months, postponing the stop to coal in Sardinia until 2027. “We could shut down the Civitavecchia and Brindisi power plants during 2024, certainly within a year,” said the minister. “We were ready last September, but then I had second thoughts, fearing that something could happen on a geopolitical level. And in fact shortly thereafter there was October 7th and the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz”.
While waiting for the final document, which will be released in the early afternoon of today, previews are circulating on the other topics addressed at this G7. There would also be progress in the fight against plastic: “The G7 recognizes for the first time that the level of plastic pollution is unsustainable”, said the French delegation on the sidelines of the meetings. “The G7 is committed to reducing the overall production of polymers primary to end plastic pollution by 2040”.
As regards climate finance, the text would recognize that to help developing countries face the energy transition, hundreds of billions are not enough: trillions, thousands of billions are needed. The real problem will be understanding how to find them. Among other issues dear to the Italian government, the recognition of the role of natural gas as a “transition fuel”, especially in the case of energy security put at risk by possible geopolitical crises.
And then the return of nuclear power, which is weighed down by the support offered by the “nuclear” members of the G7: USA, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Japan. Although the most encouraging paragraph seems to be dedicated to fusion, considered promising, rather than classic fission. Italy is much more isolated on biofuels, designed to help combustion cars survive even after 2035 (the year of the ban foreseen by the EU) . In reality the “big seven” would definitely focus on electric for road mobility.
