Initiative to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is launched.
The US Department of Energy has announced the launch of a G7 Industrial Decarbonisation Agenda (IDA). The announcement was made by US Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, during the G7 Climate and Environment Ministerial, which met virtually on 20-21 May 2021.
The IDA is described as ‘an ambitious initiative to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy industry.’ Led jointly by the US and the UK G7 Presidency; it said that the IDA will ‘create a strong partnership among like-minded countries to reduce emissions in heavy industries such as steel, cement and chemicals.’
Using the Climate and Environment Ministers’, May 2021 Communiqué the G7 Ministers’ said: ‘To accelerate the pace of industrial decarbonisation, we commit to launch the G7 Industrial Decarbonisation Agenda to complement and support the activities of existing key initiatives and amplify ambition, while plugging critical gaps in the landscape wherever they exist.’
Endorsing carbon capture technologies and alternative fuels, the Communiqué added ‘We recognise the importance of early action to decarbonise hard-to-abate industrial sectors such as iron and steel, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals, to ensure that emissions across the entire economy reach net-zero by 2050. For these hard-to-abate sectors to achieve this, we commit to targeting greater levels of innovation funding to lower the costs of industrial decarbonisation technologies, including the use of hydrogen, electrification, sustainable biomass, CCUS and synthetic fuels…’
Other commitments made by the G7 Ministers in the Communiqué included continuing efforts to address the global pandemic stating: ‘We acknowledge with grave concern that the unprecedented and interdependent crises of climate change and biodiversity loss pose an existential threat to nature, people, prosperity and security.’ Preventing and combating antimicrobial resistance using a One Health approach, along with ‘resetting our relationship with nature’ as well as ‘mobilising and aligning finance to support the green recovery.’
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