Ahead of the 47th G7 summit that is scheduled to take place in the United Kingdom, a report has found that G7 nations are spending billions of dollars more on fossil fuels than green energy. Published by development charity Tearfund, in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Overseas Development Institute, the research found that seven of the world’s richest and most advanced nations pumped $189 billion into coal, oil and gas energy between January 2020 and March 2021, while clean forms of energy only received $147 billion. The bulk of financial commitment went to the transport sector, primarily as a result of governments approving large plans to bail out the aviation and automotive sectors during the early stages of the pandemic. The authors of the report state that rescue packages will sustain highly polluting industries for the foreseeable future and that they were provided with very little pressure or incentives to “go green”.
Only 17% of energy commitments to fossil fuel intensive sectors had green strings attached and 83% ($157 billion) did not include any climate targets or pollution reduction requirements. The report described this as a lost opportunity for G7 countries to support a just transition to cleaner industries and it states that an approach based on green conditions should be “the absolute minimum”. Between January 2020 and March 2021, only one in every ten dollars committed to the Covid-19 response benefited the cleanest energy measures. On top of direct funding for dirty forms of energy, some governments even rolled back regulations affecting the fossil fuel industry such as placing waivers on the impact assessment process, suspending penalties for companies in breach of environmental obligations, the introduction of fuel tax exemptions and the extension of deadlines for greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
Public money committed to forms of energy in G7 countries.
Statista
