G7 ministers draw on wide range of IEA recommendations to strengthen energy security and accelerate clean energy transitions

Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers from the G7 group of advanced economies today gave strong and broad recognition to the work of the International Energy Agency as they pledged to further bolster energy security and advance clean energy transitions.

In a communique following a two-day meeting in Turin under Italy’s 2024 G7 Presidency, the ministers vowed to strengthen energy security and keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C within reach by taking actions to achieve the ambitious energy goals set at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai last December. In doing so, they extensively cited the IEA’s analysis, recommendations and activities across all fuels and technologies and repeatedly called on the IEA to take a leading role in the delivery of recent energy security and climate commitments by outlining pathways forward and tracking progress.

G7 Ministers in Turin underscored their focus on the implementation of the COP28 energy outcomes – part of what is known as the UAE Consensus, which includes goals such as tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling global energy efficiency improvements by 2030 and accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner. They asked the IEA to leverage its unparalleled data, analysis, policy advice and convening power to guide decision makers and ensure the security of energy supply through clean energy transitions.

Referencing recent IEA analysis, the G7 ministers reiterated their commitment to the target of tripling renewables, as well as confirming their commitment to achieving a fully or predominantly decarbonised power sector by 2035 while making important new pledges to help meet that goal. Citing the Agency’s special report on Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions, they set the goal of increasing global power storage more than six-fold between 2022 and 2030, which the report shows is crucial to ensure stable energy supply as more electricity is generated from renewables. Batteries are likely to account for the large majority of the increase in power storage capacity. Additionally, the ministers pledged to “significantly scale-up” investment in electricity grids, noting IEA analysis that finds that investment needs to nearly double by 2030 to over USD 600 billion per year to meet the climate targets that countries have announced.

Ministers also identified energy efficiency as an essential element of people-centred clean energy transitions and noted the need to speed up progress. They highlighted the role to be played by the IEA’s upcoming Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, which will convene energy and climate leaders from around the world to share best practices and build momentum towards the goal of doubling global energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

Importantly, G7 ministers also asked the IEA to take the lead on determining what a secure global transition away from fossil fuels could look like in practice, calling upon the Agency to “provide recommendations in 2025 to decision makers on how to design a roadmap to implement the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, including the technology pathways and timeframes to enable this transition” and reductions in fossil fuels demand. They also specifically asked the IEA to report in 2025 on “actions to phase out unabated coal fired power generation globally.”

For critical minerals, another major area where international cooperation is vital for ensuring secure clean energy transitions, the G7 Ministers committed to accelerate the implementation of the IEA’s voluntary Critical Minerals Security Programme and said they would consult closely with the working parties and advisory groups on critical minerals that are convened by the Agency, ensuring appropriate steps are taken to balance supply with rising demand.

The IEA has long supported G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States – and their partners on energy and climate issues. Today’s communique agreed in Turin also referenced the IEA’s work on topics including natural gas security, decarbonising industry and transport, energy technology innovation, methane emissions, fossil fuel subsidies, smart cities, just and inclusive transitions, and sustainable energy development in Africa.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol addressed leaders at both the opening and the closing of the meeting. He highlighted the urgent need to implement the energy outcomes from COP28, which provide a global framework for energy transitions – and emphasised that these transitions will only succeed if there is sufficient attention on developing diversified clean energy supply chains.

He also noted that the IEA will help maintain momentum on energy and climate between the G7 and other multilateral forums such as the G20 and COP – especially on vital issues such as ensuring fair and inclusive people-centred transitions and improving energy affordability and access. He pointed to the upcoming Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, which the IEA will hold with Tanzania, Norway and the African Development Bank Group in Paris next month and which G7 Ministers welcomed in their communique, as an important venue to continue high-level conversations.

Dr Birol met bilaterally in Turin with a wide range of ministers from around the world, as well as leaders of international organisations. These included COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev of Azerbaijan and Marina Silva, the Environment and Climate Change Minister from Brazil, which holds the G20 Presidency this year and the COP30 Presidency next year. Dr Birol also met with Algerian Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab; Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault; European Commissioner for Climate Change Wopke Hoekstra; Italy’s Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin; Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade & Industry Ken Saito; and UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell. The IEA is working closely with UN Climate Change to track all the energy outcomes from COP28, launching a new online resource earlier this month.

IEA Director of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks Laura Cozzi, who was part of the IEA delegation with Dr Birol, met bilaterally with Mauritania’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Lalya Kamara to discuss plans for the Clean Cooking Summit on 14 May and how it can help deliver a turning point on the issue this year.