G7 leaders pledge to cut emissions by up to 70% by 2050

G7 leaders agreed to wean their economies off carbon fuels and supported a global goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but stopped short of agreeing their own immediate binding targets.

In a communique issued after their two-day summit in Bavaria, the G7 leaders said they backed reducing global greenhouse gas emissions at the upper end of a range of 40% to 70% by 2050, using 2010 as a basis. The range was recommended by the IPCC, the UN climate-change panel.

They also backed a global target for limiting the rise in average global temperatures to 2C compared with pre- industrial levels.