G7 leaders agree to phase out fossil fuel use by end of century

German chancellor Angela Merkel announces commitment to ‘decarbonise global economy’ and end extreme poverty and hunger

G7 leaders, including Angela Merkel (in pink jacket), and invitees line up for the traditional group photo at the end of the summit. Photograph: Sven Hoppe/dpa/Corbis

• The G7 leading industrial nations have agreed on tough measures to cut greenhouse gases by phasing out the use of fossil fuels by the end of the century, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has announced.

On the final day of talks in a Bavarian castle, Merkel said the Group of Seven leaders had committed themselves to the need to “decarbonise the global economy in the course of this century”.
Environmental lobbyists described the announcement as a hopeful sign that plans for complete decarbonisation could be ruled on in Paris climate talks later this year.
Merkel, as host of the summit, said the leading industrialised countries were committed to raising $100bn in annual climate financing by 2020 from public and private sources.
She also announced that G7 governments had signed up to initiatives to work for an end to extreme poverty and hunger, reducing the number of people living in hunger and malnutrition by 500 million, and improving the global response to epidemics.

Reacting to the summit’s final communique, the European Climate Foundation described the G7 leaders’ announcement as historic, saying it signalled “the end of the fossil fuel age” and was an “important milestone on the road to a new climate deal in Paris”.

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