The April meeting of G7 climate ministers eventually agreed, despite tussles between Japan and European nations, that gas investments "can be appropriate to help address potential market shortfalls" following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the disruption it has caused in global energy markets. Saturday's G7 leaders statement at their summit in Japan's Hiroshima changed the language - eventually formulated by Germany, sources say - to include gas investments again, with the G7 saying it was "necessary to accelerate the phase-out of our dependency on Russian energy". DEFENDING THE STANCEGerman government officials rejected that criticism, saying investments are needed to get away from Russian gas and find a replacement. The G7 pledged to achieve a net-zero emissions goal by 2050 and to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Max Lawson, head of inequality policy at activist group Oxfam, said the G7 had maintained a loophole for new fossil gas investments using the Russian military conflict with Ukraine "as an excuse."

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