G7 leaders are set to announce Sunday a range of measures to tackle climate change, including "ending almost all direct government support" for fossil fuels and phasing out gasoline and diesel cars.
Driving the news: The plan was outlined in a British government announcement Saturday, which states that the leaders will also agree to halting "all unabated coal as soon as possible."
- The White House announced in a separate statement Saturday that G7 leaders had "agreed to a set of concrete actions to accelerate the global transition away from coal generation as part of our efforts to combat the climate crisis."
- The U.S., Canada, Germany and the U.K. had agreed to provide up to $2 billion in financing to help developing countries transition away from coal, the White House statement added.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Andrew Freedman: Steps to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles and ending subsidies for coal-fired power plants are no surprise, but there is pressure on leaders to go further toward these goals than they have in the past.
- The developing world will also be eyeing any new financial pledges to help countries transition toward clean energy while coping with the effects of climate change.
- Developed countries had promised $100 billion per year for these purposes starting in 2020, but funding remains well below that target.
