G7 Puts Fusion Forward At The Climate, Energy And Environment Ministers’ Meeting
On April 29-30, G7 Ministers met in Turin, Italy for the Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting. The resulting communiqué published by the Ministers identifies actions across a range of topics, including fusion energy, to address the ongoing climate and energy crises.
“The successful delivery of fusion energy production could offer major social, environmental, and economic benefits, being a source of potentially zero-emission, safe, secure, virtually unlimited clean energy.
Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting Communiqué
The communiqué includes a section dedicated to Fusion Energy, underscoring the solution fusion at scale offers to climate and energy security challenges, while addressing several areas for further international cooperation to accelerate development and deployment of fusion plants. G7 Ministers promoted international collaboration to resolve research challenges and develop international supply chains and workforces. Further, the Ministers agreed to establish a “G7 Working Group on Fusion Energy” to share best practices and explore areas of mutual cooperation, as well as a “G7 exchange” to promote a “coordinated approach of regulations and their implementation between fusion-forward countries”, thereby providing the fusion sector with the certainty needed to develop and deploy fusion power plants.
The FIA welcomes the outcomes of this Ministerial Meeting and the commitments made signaling clear multinational government support to the fusion industry.
Here is the Fusion Energy Section:
Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting Communiqué
- Fusion Energy – We recognise that with future breakthroughs in fusion energy technology it has the potential to provide a lasting solution to the global challenges of climate change and energy security in the future. The successful delivery of fusion energy production could offer major social, environmental, and economic benefits, being a source of potentially zero-emission, safe, secure, virtually unlimited clean energy. The potential of commercialising fusion energy has led to demonstrator facilities being developed over the next decade by Governments and commercial companies in many countries and new international collaborations can help accelerate fusion development and demonstration reinforcing the need for global engagement to resolve research challenges, develop international supply chains and workforces. Regulatory approaches ensuring a high level of safety, proportionate to the hazards of fusion technology and that take into account the innovation of this emerging technology will be crucial to enable the potential for the safe development, deployment, and operation of fusion plants. A coordinated approach of regulations and their implementation between fusion-forward countries will be sought by international collaborations between Governments including regulators for all fusion plants, taking into account the level of maturity of different designs and stages of development. This can provide the fusion sector with the certain level of predictability and confidence it needs. Industry also has to engage collaboration in the field of research and development. Fusion has always been an international endeavour and strong connections between countries in research and development will be necessary to overcome the remaining technical challenges of fusion and accelerate the commercialisation of fusion energy. We welcome the ongoing engagement of IAEA and its member states in fusion energy. In this context,
We commit to:
i. promote international collaborations to accelerate the development and demonstration of fusion plant encouraging the rise in private investments and public engagement to resolve research challenges and develop international supply chains and workforces;
ii. establish a G7 Working Group on Fusion Energy to share best practices and explore areas of mutual cooperation between countries with the aim of strengthening research and development cooperation between countries;
iii. establish a G7 exchange to promote consistent approaches to fusion regulations, where appropriate.
And here is the communique in full.
About the G7: The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political and economic forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a “non-enumerated member”. The G7 discusses and coordinates solutions to major global issues, especially in the areas of trade, security, economics, and climate change. Each member’s head of government or state, along with the EU’s Commission President and European Council President, meet annually at the G7 Summit; other high-ranking officials of the G7 and the EU meet throughout the year.
