G7 leaders convened at a summit in Hiroshima, Japan, reiterating their commitment to the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
In line with this commitment, they pledged to support the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) development of sustainability and climate-related corporate reporting standards. Alongside, G7 also underlined their stance against the construction of new unabated coal-fired power plants and promoted initiatives to enhance climate transition finance for developing countries.
In the meeting, they acknowledged the necessity of mobilising finance to facilitate emissions reductions and climate resilient development. Particular emphasis was placed on private finance’s role in fostering clean technologies and activities.
G7’s support for ISSB follows their approval of mandatory climate-related financial disclosures during their previous meeting in Germany. The ISSB, launched at the COP26 climate conference in 2021, has the primary aim of developing IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards to establish a global baseline for disclosure requirements.
The communique by the G7 leaders also touched upon corporates’ need for Paris Agreement-aligned net zero transitions based on credible corporate climate transition plans. They also expressed their commitment to end the construction of new unabated coal-fired power plants, recognising the role of low-carbon and renewable hydrogen in decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors in industry and transportation.
The leaders emphasised the need for developing standards and certifications, including a methodology to calculate emissions, for hydrogen production.
Another key goal outlined in the communique was to increase offshore wind capacity by 150 GW and to augment solar PV to more than 1 TW by 2030. They also voiced their support for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) as a potential part of decarbonisation solutions, especially where industrial emissions cannot be avoided.
The G7 leaders said in their communique, “We support the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) finalising the standards for general reporting on sustainability and for climate-related disclosures and working toward achieving globally interoperable sustainability disclosure frameworks. We also look forward to the ISSB’s future work on disclosure on biodiversity and human capital, in line with its work plan consultation.”
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