Beyond Promises: How G7 Leadership Can Secure a Just, Green Future for All

As the G7 Climate, Energy and Environmental Ministers convene this week, they face a world fractured by geopolitical tensions and reeling from a polycrisis. The climate emergency is accelerating, with 2024 already etched in history as the hottest year on record. Simultaneously, our planet’s biodiversity is in a catastrophic freefall and social inequalities are deepening.

In this volatile context, we need robust, cooperative multilateralism more than ever. Yet, the very nations that hold the greatest historical responsibility for the climate crisis—the G7—have, to date, failed to lead.

As the Civil 7 (C7) Working Group on Climate, Energy, and Environment, we have delivered our communiqué, as a roadmap for survival. The G7 has championed an extractive development model that fuels climate chaos and deepens debt. Their continued approval of new fossil fuel projects is a direct contradiction of scientific consensus and a betrayal of the trust placed in them.

This Ministerial meeting is a critical juncture. The G7 must fundamentally change course. The time for empty promises is over.

The End of the Fossil Fuel Era—If They Choose It

Our first demand is unequivocal: The G7 must lead the transition away from all fossil fuels.

The C7 calls for G7 nations to commit to a fully renewable-based power sector by 2035. This requires binding action to phase out coal, oil and gas, in line with the 1.5 degree Celsius goal. These commitments must be the non-negotiable floor for their upcoming 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Critically, this transition cannot be financed while the other hand feeds the fire. The G7 must immediately redirect their vast, harmful fossil fuel subsidies. These public funds should instead be invested in scaling up decentralized, community-owned renewable energy and establishing legally binding just transition frameworks that guarantee social protections and dignified work, particularly for women.

Climate Finance: The Litmus Test for COP30

Let me be clear: The success or failure of the crucial COP30 climate conference in Belem hinges on the actions the G7 takes on finance now.

For years, developing countries have been told to wait. They have been forced to bear the brunt of a crisis they did not create, lacking the resources to adapt or recover. This is the central injustice of the climate crisis. The G7 has an opportunity and an obligation to finally shape a post-2025 climate finance goal (NCQG) that is fit for purpose.

The C7 has articulated the scale required. We demand a clear pathway from the G7 to mobilize at least USD $1.3 trillion annually in new, additional, predictable and non-debt-inducing finance.

This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of justice and obligation. This finance must be grant-based, accessible, and directed to frontline communities in the Global South. It must be allocated to address the full spectrum of need: catalyzing mitigation, supporting adaptation, funding a global just transition and properly capitalizing the new Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD).

The finance crisis extends to nature. The G7 must also stop funding destruction. We demand they eliminate their share of the USD $500 billion in annual harmful incentives that drive biodiversity loss and instead mobilize USD $200 billion annually to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Justice and Accountability Must Be the Foundation

Finally, this transition will fail if it is not rooted in human rights and accountability. Climate action must not become a new vehicle for colonialism.

The G7 must enforce legal mechanisms to hold major polluters responsible for climate-related damages. Furthermore, they must align all climate and biodiversity policies with human rights frameworks, particularly the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This includes the full enforcement of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) to ensure conservation efforts do not result in land grabs or violations of sovereignty.

We must protect the rights of those who protect the planet. Environmental and climate justice activists, especially women and Indigenous leaders, face increasing violence while advocating for our collective future. The G7 must ensure these advocates can operate in safe environments, free from fear.

A Call for True Leadership

The G7 Energy and Environment Ministers are at a crossroads. They can continue to manage the decline of our planet, or they can show the true leadership required by this moment.

In our fragmented world, tackling the interwoven climate, energy, and biodiversity crises is the only viable path to peace and stability. This requires embracing their fair share of climate action and supporting Global South countries with the finance and technology needed to build resilient, green societies.

Vulnerable countries and communities are watching. Civil society is watching. The G7 must meet their obligations. The world needs real leadership now.

Harjeet Singh is the Founding Director of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation and served as Coordinator of the Climate, Energy and Environment Working Group for the Civil 7 (C7) —the official G7 engagement group representing civil society for the G7 Summit in Canada. He is also the Global Convenor of the Fill the Fund campaign and Strategic Advisor to the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative.