(ANSA) – ROME, JUNE 14 – At the G7 in Puglia “there was no significant progress on climate and finance compared to the ministerial meetings in Venaria and Stresa. These two days of leaders’ meetings were a missed opportunity to strengthen competitiveness industrial group of the G7, especially towards China, and to respond to the growing impacts of climate change and the real needs of African countries in terms of investments and growth”. This is the comment from Ecco, the Italian climate think tank, on the final document of the summit.
For Luca Bergamaschi, director and co-founder of Ecco, “it is positive that the G7 leaders have reaffirmed the leading role of COP28 and the need for a gradual exit from fossil fuels, starting from reducing their demand. What is missing are precise timing and policies for 2030 and 2050, to accompany the orderly exit from fossil fuels, starting from gas in the electricity sector and from stopping new concessions on national territory”.
For Federico Tassan-Viol, diplomatic analyst, “gas remains the protagonist in the G7 countries. The choice to open the Summit by having only the Italian energy subsidiaries, Eni and Enel, sit at the table is an anachronistic and short-sighted choice compared to the many interests at stake and to the requests of African entrepreneurs and companies. Despite the rhetoric on the equal partnership with Africa of the Mattei Plan, public support for new fossil projects in Africa undermines the ability to achieve this objective and the credibility of Italy’s investments fossil fuels in Africa create fewer jobs than renewable energy and have a negative impact on public budgets.”
“On the development and climate finance side, the central theme of this year’s COP29 in Baku, there has been no significant progress”, comments international finance analyst Eleonora Cogo. (HANDLE).
