- Brazil government announces Petrobras chief dismissed
- Five years after 13-0 World Cup mauling, Thai women look to future
- Oleksandr Usyk: looking for heavyweight legacy on the Fury road
- Tyson Fury: the 'Gypsy King' of the ring riddled with contradictions
- Push for new US lithium mine leaves some Americans wary
- 'Sowing peace'? Colombia program for war criminals stokes debate
- US says Boeing can be prosecuted for 737 MAX crashes
- More money pledged for flood-stricken Brazil
- Parts of Canadian city in oil sands region evacuated as wildfire draws near
- New dad Scheffler, divorcing McIlroy add emotion to PGA drama
- Trump defense takes aim at ex-fixer Michael Cohen at trial
- Man City do feel the tension of title race, says Guardiola
- Watches belonging to F1 great Schumacher fetch millions at auction
- Postecoglou 'misread' Spurs' fans desperation to deny Arsenal title
- Nasdaq finishes at record as US stocks shrug off latest inflation data
- No.1 new dad Scheffler enjoying life but strives for more at PGA
- Bellingham, Vinicius shine as champions Madrid smash Alaves
- Man City can 'make history' with fourth consecutive Premier League: Rodri
- Singapore to swear in Lawrence Wong as new prime minister
- Blinken vows US will back Ukraine till security 'guaranteed'
- Ohtani interpreter appears in court over $17 mn fraud
- Haaland double puts Man City on brink of Premier League history
- In major change, Google to use AI-generated answers in search results
- Rahm says he's not slumping despite winless LIV start
- Paris Holocaust memorial hit with red hand graffiti
- Floods unite Brazilians in solidarity despite political rift
- Spieth tries again for career Grand Slam with PGA victory
- Massive manhunt after French prison officers killed, inmate escapes in ambush
- Biden sharply hikes US tariffs on Chinese EVs and chips
- Quarter of Gazans displaced again as fighting rages north to south
- Ex-fixer Cohen grilled by defense at Trump trial
- Alice Munro: short story virtuoso with a touch of 'magic'
- Top-ranked Scheffler paired with major winners at PGA Championship
- Defending champion Medvedev out as Swiatek cruises in Rome Open
- McIlroy files for divorce from wife Erica
- Stubbs gives Delhi IPL play-off hope with win in last league match
- Top French court rejects bid to return Mona Lisa to 'rightful owners'
- Streep honoured at opening of drama-filled Cannes Film Festival
- Grammy-winning sax player David Sanborn dies
- UK law to ban live animal exports clears parliament
- In big change, Google to use AI-generated answers in search results
- Medvedev's Rome Open title defence ended by USA's Paul
- US will back Ukraine until its security is 'guaranteed', Blinken says
- World No.2 McIlroy files for divorce from wife Erica: report
- King Charles III sees red in new portrait
- Amazonian chief at UN to combat traditional knowledge piracy
- US sharply hikes tariffs on Chinese EVs and chips
- Thousands rally in Georgia after parliament passes 'foreign influence' law
- Tiger 'still talking' about US 2025 Ryder Cup captain's job
- Alice Munro, Nobel-winning Canadian author, dead at 92
G7 holds 'strategic' talks in climate hotspot Italy
G7 ministers meet for environment and climate change talks in Turin on Monday, with experts urging the highly industrialised countries to use their political clout, wealth and technologies to end fossil fuel use.
The Group of Seven meeting in the northern Italian city is the first big political session since the world pledged at the UN's COP28 climate summit in December to transition away from coal, oil and gas.
It comes as a new report by a global climate institute shows the G7 is falling far short of its targets.
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Turin on Sunday, some burning photos of the G7 leaders as they accused them of failing future generations over the climate crisis.
Rome, which holds the G7 rotating presidency, says it wants Turin to be "a strategic link" between last year's Conference of Parties in Dubai and COP29, which will take place in November in Azerbaijan.
The aim is "to make the course set out by COP28 practical, real, concrete," Italian Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said ahead of the meeting.
Italy, a climate change hotspot vulnerable to wildfires, drought and glacier retreat, is putting "biodiversity, ecosystems, warming seas" high on the agenda, he said.
Delegations from Dubai and Azerbaijan are in Turin, as well as from Brazil, which hosts the G20 this year.
- 'Innovative' -
Environment ministers from the G7, which includes Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US, will meet for four working sessions over two days at the 17th century Palace of Venaria.
Environmentalists want to know how they intend to follow through on pledges such as the agreement in Dubai to double energy efficiency rates and triple renewable capacity by 2030.
The talks will stress the need to diversify sources of critical materials key to renewable energy systems, as well as minerals reuse, in a bid to stop overreliance on China, which dominates in green technologies.
Italy says rare earths and renewables will be part of discussions with African delegations invited to Turin.
Canada, France, Germany and the UK are pushing for a global treaty to reduce plastics pollution, and are expected to use the G7 to rally a reluctant US and Japan.
Climate watchers hope for a ramping up of support for less developed countries in decarbonising their industrial production, with experts advising on particularly tricky sectors, like cement and steel.
There may be commitments on more funds for adaptation to climate change, and Italy said the G7 would discuss "innovative" financing models amid calls for more accessible finance for vulnerable countries.
- 'Watched closely' -
Together the G7 makes up around 38 percent of the global economy and was responsible for 21 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, according to the Climate Analytics policy institute.
Not one member of the group is on track to meet existing emission reduction targets for 2030, managing instead to cut them by "at best around half of what is needed", a report by the institute said last week.
The US finalised sweeping plans Thursday to curb emissions from fossil fuel plants, giving existing coal plants until 2032 to reduce their carbon dioxide output by 90 percent.
France is expected to push for the G7 to phase out coal by 2030, but Japan is reluctant to set a date.
Germany -- Europe's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases -- is unwilling to wean off gas, as is Italy.
Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed repeatedly to transform Italy into a gas hub for Europe, seeking new suppliers in the Mediterranean and Africa and expanding gas infrastructure.
Luca Bergamaschi, founder of Italian climate think tank ECCO, questioned Italy's claim that gas was essential for its energy security, and said its interest in nascent technologies such as nuclear fusion is misguided.
G7 decisions "have a big impact on the markets and on the ideas and expectations of investors", and Italy's stewardship in Turin "will be watched closely", he said.
P.Anderson--BTB