German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that the Group of Seven wealthy democracies also known as the G7 Countries have agreed to cut greenhouse gases by phasing out the use of fossil fuels by the end of the century. She said the G7 leaders committed themselves to the need to “decarbonise the global economy in the course of this century.” She meant ending the usage of oil, gas and coal but not nuclear power and replacing them with alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar power.

The summit took place in the foothills of Germany’s largest mountain, the Zugspitze. Merkel said the leading industrialized countries were committed to raising $100bn (£65bn) in annual climate financing by 2020 from public and private sources. She also added that the G7 has agreed that sanctions against Russia must remain in place until a ceasefire deal for eastern Ukraine is fully respected.

Tidbits

• The G7 was used to be the G8 until Russia was excluded in 2014 over its actions in Ukraine.
• The G7 Countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• The next major G7 summit will be held in 2016 in Japan.
• The G7 countries represent more than 64% of the net global wealth.

GK Questions

• What are G5 Countries? Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. 
• What are E9 Countries? The “E” stands for education and the “9” represents the following nine countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.