G7 countries have been widely criticised for not following through on climate finance pledges made to the global south over a decade ago.
"The G7 countries have agreed that the first response to the energy crisis must be to reduce energy and gas consumption… For the first time ever, the G7 said that we must accelerate the phasing out of all unabated fossil fuels... Finally, it sent a message about accelerating renewable energy," Pannier-Runacher said.
Energy-poor Japan was pushing for investments to stay for the gas industry in order to keep the liquefied natural gas in the energy mix as a transition fuel, winning some - but not all - support from the rest of G7. "We, the G7, need to not only reduce our own emissions but also take concrete actions to achieve emission reductions globally," Japan's Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said in his opening remarks, singling out countries in the "Global South".
"Developed countries first need to follow through on the $100 billion pledge they made to developing countries over a decade ago."