G7 Hiroshima Summit: Is There Anything New on Climate?

In order to successfully combat climate change, the world’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide have to stop producing the amount of emissions they currently do – and that’s what these large nations of the world have supposedly already agreed to do prior to the G7 Hiroshima Summit. 

These countries have previously expressed their commitment to fight against climate change with efforts to transition to the use of renewable energy, but following the G7 Summit in Hiroshima – some countries were second guessing their current commitments to mitigate climate change. 

What happened at the G7 Hiroshima Summit, and what were the most important key takeaways from the summit to remember moving forward in the fight against climate change?

The G7 Summit is an annual, international forum where leaders for the G7 member states can meet to discuss their progress and current roadblocks in fighting against climate change. These countries include France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany, and Canada.

The G7 Summit allows for leaders of the G7 international group to share their perspectives and challenges regarding climate change: such as financial setbacks, economic circumstances, and other various global issues that could be making it difficult for members of the G7 to achieve their climate goals. As G7 leaders meet to share their various perspectives and issues regarding climate, the G7 also works to seek solutions to the problems presented at the annual meeting.

This year’s annual G7 Summit was held in Hiroshima, Japan from May 19th to May 21st 2023 – and the significance of the G7 Hiroshima Summit is that the city of Hiroshima itself has recovered from significant damage following the atomic bomb. Seeing as Hiroshima continues to seek peace and represents resilience, the G7 Hiroshima Summit was meant to emanate the same characteristics of the city of Hiroshiam and provide inspiration for the G7 leaders in attendance. 

👉 Japan set out to encourage peace and resolution in the midst of many climate crises that countries part of the G7 Hiroshima Summit are facing, such as due to the Ukraine invasion – and to seek solutions that do not disrupt peace.

Many topics were discussed at the G7 Hiroshima Summit, but here were a few of the key takeaways:

• Japan is continuing to invest in coal-fired power plants due to fear of an energy shortage, and this endeavor is financially supported by the Japanese government. 
• Germany, alongside other European countries, have found it difficult to replace the resource of gas following the Russian invasion of Ukraine – making it difficult for countries like Germany to have held up their end of the bargain at the G7 Hiroshima Summit.
• G7 nations have faced political and economic and practical challenges as they try to facilitate the worldwide transition to the use of clean energy at a rapid pace in order to prevent global surface temperatures from rising to new problematic heights. Examples of this include the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, where the Biden administration is implementing environmental policy that provides financial incentives to those who opt for the clean energy option. 

Most notably, the invasion of Ukraine has left many European countries struggling to seek natural sources of energy to keep electricity running throughout the continent – leaving some European countries seeking to preserve energy resources with full-on blackouts, and with the majority of countries in the E.U. with skyrocketing electricity bills.

On the other hand, countries such as the United States and Japan have been working to protect their investments in the fossil fuel industry – such as the controversial ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project, where many Democrats and Republicans remain split on whether to preserve the planet or fuel the economy. This divide amongst the country remains as one of the most substantial roadblocks to countries like the U.S. achieving their environmental targets. However, it was brought up at the G7 Hiroshima Summit how the U.S. has still successfully incentivised the use of renewable energy and helped to keep gasoline prices down around the world – especially in the midst of the energy crisis throughout Europe. Efforts made on behalf of the United States include implementing a price-cap measure for Russian oil, which allowed Russians to keep exporting oil while still keeping global gas prices down.

Like all other G7 Summits, the G7 Hiroshima Summit dug deeper into how these global predicaments have impacted the nations in the climate journeys.

The G7 Hiroshima Summit dove deeper into the current issues after identifying them at the annual summit, and clarified why these circumstances have caused delays in facilitating the transition to the use of clean energy and ultimately working to reduce emissions and overall environmental impact worldwide.

For instance, the Russian invasion on Ukraine has had the biggest impact on many of the G7 nations – seeing as it has highlighted the dependency on Russian resources, and left many European countries scrambling to be energy efficient and completely independent of Russia’s help. 

👉 The G7 Hiroshima Summit revealed that many of the members of G7 are struggling to implement 100%, independent clean energy economies out of fear of an energy shortage or crisis. In other words, members of the G7 summit have realised their dependence on fossil fuels from other countries and how it has hindered their climate progress.

France, Germany, and the U.K. aren’t the only members of the G7 Hiroshima Summit to be suffering from this – but Japan and the United States are, too. For instance, the U.S. has faced pressure from China’s leader, Xi Jinping, by calling out Biden on a new series of signed laws that will attempt to impose limits on exporting technology to China to allow the U.S. to gain the upper hand. Biden’s environmental plan has resulted in trillions of dollars worth of investments that can help facilitate the transition to the use of renewable energy – such as with subsidies for eco-friendly farming and electric cars. While this is all great for the G7 Hiroshima Summit, it has also prevented the same opportunities for fellow G7 members.

The members of the G7 Hiroshima Summit are meant to be in the race to fight against climate change together, but predicaments such as the one between China and the U.S., which facilitated the U.S. to invest in so many eco-friendly subsidies, could impact those goals. Ultimately, it was revealed that the financial impact of seeking a transition to clean energy has proven difficult in allowing members of the G7 to achieve these goals together.

At the G7 Hiroshima Summit, many countries shared their current progress – such as with the U.K. and France declaring that the worst of the energy crisis has passed, how Germany has built a liquefied natural gas terminal to prevent future energy shortages, and Japan expressing their interest in natural gas development. 

In fact, Japan is determined to help other countries transition to the use of clean energy - as Japan revealed at the G7 Hiroshima Summit that they were dedicated to providing other countries with liquified natural gas to avoid the need to import finite resources.

However, what was made most apparent at the G7 Hiroshima Summit is that the countries of Group 7 won’t be able to meet a hard deadline to reduce their emissions down to zero. Prior to the G7 Hiroshima Summit, Japan pushed for environmental ministers at the Sapporo meeting to realise that members of the G7 Summit would not be able to meet a concrete deadline – revealing how more stringent measures and incentives may be necessary to combat the current challenges the seven nations are facing in the midst of their respective fights against climate change.

👉 One of the key takeaways from the G7 Hiroshima Summit is that Group 7 Nations, especially those in Europe, should pay attention to the Russian invasion on Ukraine and how decreasing dependence on Russian energy sources could benefit the goals to be had of Group 7 Nations.

Ultimately, The G7 Hiroshima Summit revealed that many countries, Japan included, are unable to fully transition to the use of clean energy seeing as they still rely on fossil fuels and coal for energy security.

The G7 Hiroshima Summit revealed that the current efforts taken by the seven group members may not be strong enough to fight the current circumstances regarding climate. In other words, the G7 Hiroshima Summit didn’t focus on news regarding the climate – but on how countries are working together to fight for the climate.

Here are a few key points from the G7 Hiroshima Summit:

• Seek to achieve the the UNGC’s Sustainable Development Goals together;
• Implement a more resilient global economic to encourage financial stability, job growth, and over sustainability;
• Employ the use of renewable energy wherever possible;
• Support Ukraine, even in the midst of financial crisis in achieving goals set forth by G7 members

Despite these goals and more, many have accused members of the G7 Hiroshima Summit of not taking the current circumstances on climate change seriously. This is because the G7 Hiroshima Summit didn’t place harsh deadlines on ending the use of coal amongst the seven group member countries; let alone providing a date to phase out the use of coal. Although it was decided at the G7 Hiroshima Summit to aim for a 2035 target date to completely decarbonise the use of fossil fuels in the energy sector – experts claim it still isn’t swift enough to make progress in the fight against climate change. 

👉 While the goals made on behalf of the members of the G7 Hiroshima Summit, they lack the concrete deadlines that are necessary given the current state of the climate.

The G7 Hiroshima Summit identified many of the key areas that are going to need special attention if the countries a part of the annual G7 Summit are to move forward in their climate goals. For example, one of the main circumstances that needs to be addressed is the current dependence on the use of Russian energy – as nations in Europe are struggling to detach themselves from Russian resources in the midst of the Ukraine crisis. Moreover, this dependency has resulted in more than just an energy crisis – it has contributed to inflation, too.

Germany pushed for “looser language” at the G7 Hiroshima Summit, as many European countries were struggling to power their nation and foreshadowed it would be impossible to cut ties with Russia entirely. Therefore, this dependency and its colossal impact on the environment remains as one of the most pivotal topics to be discussed at next year’s G7 Summit. 

Germany, the U.K., and France have all understood this well – but the U.S. remains divided between following Biden’s environmental efforts and satisfying Republicans with their current fossil fuel investments. If the world wants to keep global surface temperatures from rising – the next G7 Summit needs to create a concrete plan that delineates how the Group 7 Nations plan to keep this from happening. This could include a more detailed, aggressive strategy to implement the use of clean energy worldwide – and what will most likely be necessary. 

Many climate activists are concerned that the lack of set deadlines not made on behalf of Japan at the G7 Hiroshima Summit are cause for concern – as allowing these seven countries to continue investing in fossil fuel projects could hinder their climate success. Following the G7 Hiroshima Summit, it is pivotal that these nations work together to eliminate their financial dependence on these non-renewable energy projects – and the Group 7 Nation’s progress in this endeavor should be discussed in detail at the next annual meeting.

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