On Saturday, France’s energy transition minister said that the Group of Seven affluent nations had agreed to reduce gas usage, increase renewable electricity, phase out fossil fuels quicker, and build no new coal-fired facilities.

On the first two days of climate and energy discussions in Sapporo, northern Japan, France’s Agnes Pannier-Runacher, I told reporters that G7 environment and energy ministers could not agree on a coal power departure date.

“The G7 countries have agreed to reduce energy and gas consumption as the first response to the energy crisis.” For the first time, the G7 acknowledged that we must speed up all fossil fuels phaseouts. “It promoted renewable energy,” Pannier-Runacher stated.

The G7 agreed to “drastically increase electricity generated by renewable energies,” a source told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

The source said ministers discussed numerical objectives for growing solar power capacity to at least one terawatt and offshore wind power capacity to 150 gigawatts by 2030.

Energy-poor Japan won some G7 support for keeping gas industry investments to retain liquefied natural gas in the energy mix as a transition fuel.

The gas supply is temporary. “This implicitly means that we cannot invest in the exploration of new gas capacity,” Pannier-Runacher said, adding that G7 endorses nuclear energy as a “solution for the energy transition” with the security of supply.

The seminar also highlighted the need to finance emission reduction in emerging nations.

“We, the G7, need to not only reduce our own emissions but also take concrete actions to achieve emission reductions globally,” Japan’s Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said in his opening remarks, calling out “Global South” countries.

Nishimura said ministers want to consider using money to decrease carbon in “hard-to-abate” areas, including chemicals, shipping, and steel.

According to Reuters, Sultan Al Jaber, UAE minister of industry and advanced technologies, said in a secret session, “On climate finance, we must make a fairer deal for the ‘Global South’.”

“Developed countries first need to follow through on the $100 billion pledge they made to developing countries over a decade ago.”

Developed nations have historically prioritized emerging market emissions. However, Alden Meyer, a senior partner at E3G, a climate change think tank, said the world’s richest countries should help emerging nations decrease emissions.

Meyer told a briefing before the G7 conference that the G7 and other affluent countries should contribute funding and mobilize private capital to help poor countries decarbonize.

Meyer said G7 nations needed “much stronger leadership” in using financial and technical resources to help developing countries decrease emissions.