Energy ministers of the Group of Seven countries are discussing setting a common target date of 2035 for the closure of coal-fired power plants at a meeting in Italy, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Monday, UNN reports.
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The coal agreement is said to be a significant step in the direction set out at the UN climate summit COP28 in Dubai last year toward a transition away from fossil fuels, of which coal is the most polluting.
"Diplomatic negotiators from the G7 countries - Italy, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan - discussed the issue until late Sunday, with one country still opposing the move, according to a source who asked not to be named," the newspaper writes.
The meeting of energy ministers, organized by Italy, which holds this year's G7 presidency, is taking place on Monday and Tuesday at the 17th-century Venaria Palace, a former royal residence near Turin.
Demonstrators gathered in Turin on Sunday evening, set fire to photos of G7 leaders who they say are not doing enough to combat climate change, and chanted slogans including "They are the 7, we are the 99%.
According to the two sources, "in addition to reaching an agreement to phase out coal in power generation, Rome is also seeking to spur efforts to develop battery storage and increase investment in the power grid, as the G7 increases renewable energy production.
The G7 bloc could point to the need for a sixfold increase in battery capacity - critical for storing intermittent renewable energy - by 2030 compared to 2022 levels, one source said.
Nuclear power and biofuels are the other two issues at the top of Italy's agenda, and it wants to see both energy sources in the final communiqué among the options that G7 countries can choose to reduce the use of fossil fuels in power generation and transportation, sources said .
Italy's right-wing government argues that nuclear power should play an important role in achieving the country's goal of zero emissions by 2050, even though nuclear power was rejected in a 2011 national referendum, the newspaper writes.
Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said on Sunday that Rome hopes to convince the European Commission "to recognize that biofuels can significantly reduce emissions (of carbon dioxide) from vehicles.