Rich countries halt funding for coal production overseas

With an aim to save the planet Earth for future generations, the world’s richest countries have decided to pull the plug on funding coal development projects overseas.

After two days of the G7 meeting of environment and energy ministers, hosted by the UK, all countries present in the meet have decided to end the financial support of coal development and have assured their commitment to limiting global heating to 1.5C.

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G7 members — namely the UK, US, France, Canada, Italy, Germany, and the EU — have come together to make sure there is no more funding for any such projects that can harm the environment for future generations.

Japan, however, has raised concerns about this change. The Japanese government believes if the country does not invest money in coal development, China will step in to build less-efficient and more harmful coal-fired power plants, which will be more harmful, Japan claims.

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"I will strongly recommend to the president that this is a policy that we should pursue … But I guarantee that we will be completely consistent with 1.5C. 1.5C governs the choices we have to make in the next 10 years. Any decision has to be within that framework," John Kerry, the US climate envoy said.

France has come out in support of the decision and hopes this will send out a message that coal is an energy 'of the past'.

"I am delighted that an agreement could be found regarding a key aspect of our G7 communique: the absolute end of new direct government support for international coal power generation. It gives a very strong signal to the world that coal is an energy of the past and has no place in our future energy mix. It sets the stage for a radical transition towards clean energy," Barbara Pompili, France’s environment minister said.