G7 countries have vowed to stop all new financing for overseas coal projects by the end of this year, in a breakthrough in the global effort to fight climate change. 

“International investments in unabated coal must stop now,” the G7 environment ministers, including the Biden administration’s John Kerry and the UK’s Alok Sharma, said in a communique on Friday. They pledged to take “concrete steps” to end new direct government support for international thermal coal power generation, where no effort is made to capture the emissions. The strongly worded statement sets the stage for more climate pledges when G7 country leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden, meet in Cornwall next month.   

Coal mining has come under pressure this week after the International Energy Agency said that no new coal mines should be needed if the world is to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.   

Guest post from Financial Times