Despite zero-carbon ambitions, G7 fails to set date for ending coal power use

Sapporo (Japan), April 17 The G7 ministers of Environment and Energy have failed to set a deadline for phasing out coal-powered energy despite vows for net-zero emissions as their two-day talks ended in the Japanese city of Sapporo.

The ministers on Sunday underlined G7's commitment to "accelerating the clean energy transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050" in a 36-page statement released after the G7 Ministers' Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment held from Saturday to Sunday.

More aggressive moves to reduce carbon emissions remain a highlighted difficulty for G7 as the world's major industrialised economies continue to clash on coal, Xinhua news agency reported.

Japan, as host of the meetings, was reluctant to agree to a specific time frame for ending the resource-poor country's use of coal given its likely need to rely on the energy source for at least most of the 2030s, national news agency Kyodo reported.

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