Cornwall, June 2021. The leaders of the G7 come together to discuss the three big Cs – Covid, Climate Change and China. Every year, the members of this exclusive club travel from around the world to talk about current global issues and how to tackle them. Following each summit, new agreements and commitments are made, yet economic and political interests invariably undermine these pledges. Despite lacking any legal power to force other nations to do as they say, the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) can influence how other countries act by publicly reprimanding and sanctioning them, which they often do. The G7’s role in calling other world leaders to account is important and mustn’t be dismissed. Nevertheless, these seven nations are not as innocent as they seem and they must be held to the same standards as those they wish to impose.
The hypocrisy of the G7 is most notable when it comes to climate change. Emitting almost double the global average of carbon emissions, the G7 nations expect poor developing countries to move away from coal and slow down their growth, while year after year the G7 itself falls short on its climate pledges. In 2009, G7 promised to mobilize $100Bn a year to aid poor countries affected by climate change but failed to do so all 11 years. The reaffirmation of this target at the 2021 summit offers little hope given the group’s history of defaulting and the urgency and scale of the current crisis. Some progress was made in this summit, with the G7 committing to end funding for coal power generation and promising to finance poorer countries’ transition away from coal. Notwithstanding, the G7 refused to halt the manufacturing of petrol and diesel cars, a measure that would significantly decrease global carbon emissions.
Citizens’ discontent with the G7’s climate plan is evident, with hundreds of protesters coming together at Cornwall to fight for climate justice. Fueled by a feeling of frustration and anger, climate groups demanded real action, namely halting investment for oil extraction and cutting fossil fuel subsidies. If the G7’s commitment to the ‘green revolution’ is genuine and not mere greenwashing, the countries must keep their pledges and financially aid poor countries in their transition to greener energy, rather than censoring them for their unsustainable practices. As the world becomes closer to reaching the limit global temperature (1.5ºC), harsher measures are needed, and the responsibility for change must fall, first and foremost, on the rich and developed nations.The G7 must lead by example and start making meaningful commitments and seeing them through.
