G-7 leaders eyeing new natural gas projects

The Latest on the G-7 summit, the annual meeting of the leading democratic economies, which this year is being held in the Bavarian Alps in Germany; and on the NATO summit in Madrid, where leaders begin gathering later on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is defending the decision by Group of Seven leaders to soften their commitments on ending public support for fossil fuel investments.

The leaders say the war in Ukraine means time-limited support for new natural gas extraction projects may be necessary.

The G-7 nations said in a statement on Tuesday at the end of their three-day summit that “in these exceptional circumstances, publicly supported investment in the gas sector can be appropriate as a temporary response”.

That contrasts in part with a previous pledge made last month by G-7 climate ministers, who said that the seven major economies would “align official international financing with the goals of the Paris Agreement”.

Environmental campaigners, scientists and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have spoken out against any additional fossil fuel investments by rich, developed nations.

But Scholz told reporters that “gas will be needed temporarily and that is why there may be investments that make sense, in this transitional phase, and that therefore may need to be supported”.

One of the arguments made by German officials in favour of supporting new natural gas development projects is that it could spare them having to burn more polluting coal to meet their energy needs.

Environmental groups argue that building additional pipelines and other infrastructure for surging US LNG exports to Europe and for other fossil fuels will lock in increased carbon use for years to come.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)