By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters), Climate ministers of the Group of Seven economic superpowers will discuss this week whether to commit to eliminating polluting coal-fuelled power by 2030, and to decarbonizing their power sector by 2035. According to a draft of Reuters meeting communiqué.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is a major fossil fuel exporter, has caused some countries to rush to purchase more non-Russian fuels, and to burn more coal in an effort to reduce dependence on Russian gas. This raises concerns that efforts to combat climate change could be undermined by this energy crisis.

From Wednesday through Friday, G7 climate and energy ministers will be meeting in Berlin.

They will try to reach an agreement on short-term responses to rising global fuel prices and fears about fuel supply. This is to make sure that they don’t derail long-term commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a draft of their communiqué, they committed to eliminate domestic unabated and industrial coal-powered power generation. This is in line with the goal set out by their meeting. The term “unabated” is used to describe power plants which do not employ technology to capture their emission.

This draft will also make it mandatory for G7 countries that they have “net zero electricity by 2035”, and report to the public next year about how well they fulfill their previous G7 commitment to stop “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies.

It is possible that the draft will be modified before Friday’s vote. People familiar with discussions indicated that both Japan (and the United States) had expressed their opposition to the proposed coal phase-out date.

A Japanese official from Japan’s industrial ministry declined to speak directly about the G7 negotiations.

A proposal to end domestic coal unabated power generation in 2030 was not acceptable, according to an official. Japan wants to reduce coal’s share in its electricity mix from 32% to 19% in 2019 to bring it down to just 19% in 2030.

A request by U.S. officials for comment was not answered immediately.

Scientists say coal is the most CO2-emitting fossil oil, so it must be reduced if we are to reduce emissions quickly enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

All G7 nations use coal power. However, the proportion in Germany, Japan, and the United States exceeds that in Canada, France and Italy.

Canada and Germany have committed to eliminating coal entirely by 2030. France, Italy, and Britain, however, plan to eliminate it earlier. Japan and the United States haven’t set a date. However, the U.S. plan to decarbonise its power grid by 2035 suggests that coal plants will either be closed or used carbon capture technology.

In the event that ministers fail to reach agreement on targets, they could be passed to leaders of country for possible agreements at a G7 summit in June.