IMAGES and TWEET AVAILABLE here; see below

13 April, 2023 - For immediate release

Kyiv, Ukraine -
Ukrainian Climate organization Razom We Stand is pulling the alarm on dangerous practices being proposed by the G7, as the annual G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy, and Environment meets this coming weekend.

Highly problematic at the G7 meeting is Japan’s toxic new energy policy, so-called “Green Transformation (GX)”, which pushes for financing new fossil fuel infrastructure, despite recommendations by the UN and climate scientists in a latest climate change report labeled "a damning indictment of failed global leadership on climate".

Ukrainian Svitlana Romanko, Director of Ukrainian organization Razom We Stand, stated, “If Japan and the G7 really want to lead on climate, they must massively invest in renewable energy now, and if they won't, they need to get out of the way while the rest of us take action to solve the energy and climate crisis and crisis of peace." Addressing the continued financing of LNG gas projects by G7 countries, she continued, "Expanding expensive fossil fuel infrastructure and gas dependance makes no sense at the time when we need to move rapidly away from outdated energy sources to stop climate destruction, which costs trillions, and supports petro-dictators like Putin."

Ms. Romanko's quote available as tweet via @SvitlanaRomanko; LINK TO TWEET HERE

Razom We Stand and Ms. Romanko's messages this week include a list of demands the G7 Ministers must address:

• The climate crisis, and the world, need Japan to use its power as President of the G7 this year to be a climate leader, and not propose new plans contrary to stated climate goals and climate finance commitments
• Japan and the G7 must invest in renewable energy to be a renewable energy leaders, and stop relying on gas and coal
• Instead of supporting Russian war crimes in Ukraine by continuing purchase of fossil fuels, Japan could help make Ukraine the first post-war country in the world rebuilt on renewable energy and eventually to create a global showcase for infrastructure-centered climate action.
• Japan must join other G7 climate, energy, and environment ministers by  signing the Glasgow Statement to shift public finance away from gas and coal to clean energy. This could increase the potential finance shift to USD 39 billion a year. 

Such clear demands would solve key problems caused by massive public subsidies handed out by G7 countries to build wasteful new gas and fossil fuel infrastructure, costing taxpayers billions while locking in decades of CO2 emissions that will destroy chances of keeping global warming below 1.5℃, as agreed by G7 nations in the 2015 Paris Agreement. This issue is well analyzed by think-tank Ember in their recently published report, with clear projections and recommendations for the G7 to save people and the planet from growing climate catastrophes.

As the state of the climate now stands, with well over thirty years of regular scientific warnings of coming catastrophe, if the G7 doesn't act then they can expect resistance from civil society, which is justifiably outraged by G7 perpetuation of fossil fuelled chaos and war profiteering by major energy companies. With massive climate protests in recent years shutting down the financial centers of London, or Berlin, and taking place across the globe, G7 leaders need to listen to common sense proposals and shift finance to the money-saving clean energy revolution that is already sweeping the world.

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Press Contacts:
Jason Kirkpatrick, press@razomwestand.org, Snr. Communications Mgr., Razom We Stand

Notes to editors:
Svitlana Romanko, has appeared in top-tier international press speaking on energy topics, including CNN, NBC, Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC, Der Spiegel (Germany), and Le Monde (France). 
Professional photos of Svitlana Romanko are available here, copyright free unless otherwise noted on image. Ms. Romanko has been successful in influencing Ukraine government planning, supported by President Zelensky, to rebuild Ukraine's future energy system with clean energy.