G7 plan to cut coal subsidies stalls
June 12, 2015, 5:15 pm

Although Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (far right) has said his country needs more time to phase out coal subsidies, the G7 says it remains committed to taking measures to ensure the planet’s average temperature does not rise more than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century [Xinhua]

G7 leaders meeting in southern Germany pledged this week to reduce and then eliminate “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies” and to work with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on removing export credits for coal.

But Japan, which suspended its nuclear energy program in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima plant disaster, says it has turned to coal as an alternative fuel source.

Economists say some of Japan’s lingering deficit is due to the Fukushima nuclear crisis which forced the country to turn from nuclear power to more expensive fossil-fuel alternatives; some 90 per cent of Japan’s energy supplies come from imports.

Japan’s debt surged into record figures toward the end of 2013, totaling up to at least double the nation’s total GDP in 2012, according to the Finance Ministry.

According to Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry ministry, Tokyo is planning on building a number of coal-based power stations in the next few years.

But Japan is likely to come under increased international pressure as a slew of scientific reports raise the alarm that Earth is warming much too quickly.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were among a group of organizations which released data that 2014 was the hottest year on record – since temperatures were registered in the 1880s.

There was consensus among all the scientists involved in the studies that the rise in average global temperatures was due to human interaction with the ecosystem.

The burning of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions are significant contributing factors in how quickly, and drastically, the planet is warming up.

NASA scientists say that the majority of the global warming in temperatures has occurred in the past three decades.

The US says it is already working to cut 2005-emission levels 83 per cent by 2050.

The UK says it will have cut 1990-emission levels 80 per cent by 2050.

G7 leaders in Germany said they are committed to limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius this century.

But time may be running out.

Two recent climate reports appear to signal that the best efforts will not be able to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.

The United Nations has warned that global temperatures will rise by at least 2 degrees Celsius this century, and is pushing industrialized nations, emerging economies and developing countries to move toward a global climate change agreement that sufficiently reduces carbon emissions to offset any increase.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report in November that carbon emissions will reach 59 billion tonnes by 2020 – 25 billion tonnes above the threshold for a 2C global rise in temperature.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies