The Group of Seven nations are nearing a deal to accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels but have failed to agree on a timeline to exit coal, according to French Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

Pannier-Runacher spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of G-7 energy and environment ministers in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo that runs through Sunday. The ministers are negotiating a joint communique that outlines support from the world’s most advanced economies for the global energy transition.

“For the first time ever, the G-7 says that we must accelerate the phasing out of all unabated fossil fuels,” Pannier-Runacher told reporters on Saturday. “We could not reach an agreement on exiting coal by a specific date, which we wanted to set at 2030.”

The G-7 have appointed themselves leaders in the global mission to decarbonize, and the communique sends an important political signal that sets the tone for energy and climate conversations fpr the rest of the year. Still, the failure to agree on a timeline to exit coal may weaken resolve ahead of a critical UN climate summit in Dubai later this year — COP 28 — where nearly 200 nations will be pressed to phase out the fossil fuel.

The G-7 also calls for accelerating installment of renewables, Pannier-Runacher said. A plan in the works would aim to triple solar capacity and boost offshore wind generation seven-fold from 2021 levels across the group by the end of this decade, Nikkei reported Saturday.

G-7 nears fossil fuel phase-out deal without coal exit deadline – MINING.COM