G7 brings gas investments back in ‘temporary’ solution, to dismay of climate activists

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HIROSHIMA — The Group of Seven rich nations reinstated gas investment subsidies in their statement on Saturday, calling it a “temporary” step as they try to wean the couple off Russian energy, in a move climate activists say could hurt climate goals.

The meeting of G7 climate ministers eventually agreed, despite disagreements between Japan and European countries, that gas investments “could be appropriate to help address potential market shortages” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the turmoil it caused in global energy markets.

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Saturday’s G7 leaders’ statement at their summit in Hiroshima, Japan, changed language — eventually coined by Germany — to again include gas investments, with the G7 saying it was “essential to accelerate the phasing out of our dependence on Russian energy.”

“We stress the important role that increased LNG shipments can play, and we acknowledge that investment in this sector can be appropriate to respond to the current crisis and to address the potential shortfall in the gas market caused by the crisis,” he said.

The document said that the phase-out would also be based on “saving energy and reducing gas demand” in line with the Paris climate goals and accelerating the development of renewable energy, and described clean energy as a means of energy security.

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“In the face of the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels, what leaders have brought to the table is an endorsement of the new fossil gas,” Tracy Carty, global climate policy expert at Greenpeace International, said in a statement.

Defend the position

German government officials dismissed those criticisms, saying investments were needed to move away from Russian gas and find an alternative.

“We also need some new gas power plants, but they have to be built in such a way that they can run on green hydrogen later as well. So it’s an investment in the clean future as well,” said a German government official.

Japan sees LNG as a transitional fuel toward a greener economy, and Germany, once Moscow’s largest gas buyer, was forced to increase its investment in gas infrastructure after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine slashed supplies.

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“In the exceptional circumstances of accelerating the phase-out of our dependence on Russian energy, publicly subsidized investment in the gas sector could be appropriate as a temporary response,” Saturday’s statement read.

Without elaborating what “temporary” means, the document said such investments should align with climate goals and be integrated with the development of low-carbon, renewable hydrogen.

The Group of Seven nations pledged to achieve the net zero emissions target by 2050 and limit global warming to 1.5°C.

“We stick to our targets for 2030 and 2045. So if we burn more coal or gas now, we will have to produce less carbon dioxide in the coming years,” said a German government official.

Max Lawson, head of inequality policy at campaign group Oxfam, said the G7 had kept a loophole on new fossil gas investment by using Russia’s military conflict with Ukraine “as a pretext”.

“They are trying to shift the blame onto everyone else – they are off track to contribute their fair share of what is required to achieve this goal,” he said in a statement. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Andreas Rinke; Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Chang-ran Kim and Hugh Lawson)