Last opportunity for G7 to deliver on fossil fuel promises before updating climate plans

Data published today by Oil Change International shows G7 countries are continuing to overwhelmingly prop up fossil fuels at home and abroad, despite agreeing to phase them out at COP28. G7 countries are massively expanding fossil fuel production at home and investing billions in more fossil fuel infrastructure abroad.

G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom – will gather for the upcoming Leaders’ Summit in Italy from 13 – 15 June, at a historic time for climate politics. This will be the last time these governments meet before submitting enhanced climate plans under the Paris Agreement.

At home, G7 countries have both the capacity and the responsibility to lead in phasing out fossil fuels. However, not only are G7 countries among the world’s biggest extractors of fossil fuels, they also have large expansion plans that sabotage any hope of achieving the climate goals they have repeatedly committed to.

• Italy, which holds the G7 presidency this year, recently committed to doubling its production of natural gas, when it should be among the nations phasing out fossil fuel production fastest.
• The U.S. is both the largest oil and gas producer globally and has the biggest oil and gas expansion plans by far, despite President Biden’s climate promises.

To uphold the COP28 decision, G7 countries must quickly phase out all existing production, and immediately end fossil fuel expansion at home. Continued oil and gas expansion would lock in climate chaos and an unlivable future.

Abroad, G7 members continue to provide billions of dollars in taxpayer finance for international fossil fuel projects, despite repeatedly promising to end financial support for these projects. Last year, the G7 even misleadingly claimed it had ended such financing. However, as of May 15, 2024, OCI has tracked at least $8.5 billion in public support for fossil fuel projects abroad from the G7 since the end of 2022, with Japan and the United States providing the majority of this financing.

The G7’s financing of fossil fuels still dwarfs its financial support for renewable energy, using public money to enable high-risk fossil fuel projects worldwide, while delaying the transition to renewables.

Oil Change International’s recommendations for G7 leaders at the upcoming summit and beyond include:

• Strengthen fossil fuel phase-out language and targets agreed at the 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit and at COP28
• Demonstrate robust implementation of the COP28 UAE consensus to transition away from fossil fuels
• Acknowledge reductions in future fossil fuel demand and the impact this will have on export-dependent producer countries
• Prioritize support for the clean energy transition with a clear clean energy finance offer, that dramatically scales up clean energy finance where it is most needed, on fair terms
• Reiterate and strengthen the G7 2022 commitment to “end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022.”

Adam McGibbon, Public Finance Strategist at Oil Change International, said:

“The G7 are not just delaying taking climate action – they are actively blocking a fair, fast, full, and funded phase out of fossil fuels with massive expansion plans at home, and backing fossil fuel projects abroad with billions in public money.

“This summit is a critical moment for G7 nations to demonstrate true leadership. We’re calling on G7 leaders to acknowledge that fossil fuel expansion is incompatible with the 1.5C limit, and to commit to submitting enhanced climate plans under the Paris Agreement that will deliver a science-aligned fossil fuel phaseout and support for an equitable transition to clean energy.

“There is no shortage of public money to make the COP28 decision on fossil fuels a reality – it is just poorly distributed to the most harmful parts of our economies that are driving the climate crisis and extreme inequalities. G7 countries must make good on their promise to stop funding fossil fuels, and pay their fair share for people-centered renewables on fair terms.

“The G7 are among the world’s most powerful and wealthiest nations. They have a responsibility to lead the way both at home and abroad. Anything less is hypocrisy and gross negligence, and risks endangering the implementation of the COP28 decision to transition away from fossil fuels.”