Over 100 economists call on G7 countries to end funding for fossil fuel projects

Jun 12, 2021 News

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Kaieteur News – Ahead of the G7 Summit which got underway yesterday, more than 100 economists called on the participating member countries to commit to shifting their finance out of all fossil fuels starting this year so as to enable a “green pandemic recovery.”
The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal club of wealthy democracies consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The heads of government of the member states, as well as the representatives of the European Union, would meet at an annual summit to discuss a range of issues. As of 2018, the G7 represented 58% of the global net wealth (US$317 trillion).
At the Summit which comes to an end tomorrow, world leaders are expected to adopt an agenda to “build back better from coronavirus and create a greener, more prosperous future.”
Kaieteur News understands that the economists who co-signed the document believe that adopting such an agenda should mean decisively shifting finance out of fossil fuels and into clean alternatives worldwide. “We welcome the decision taken last month by G7 environment ministers to end international finance to coal-fired power in 2021. But we call on G7 leaders to go further and shift their finance out of all fossil fuels in 2021,” the economists stated.
To support the reasoning behind its call, the economists cited part of the International Energy Agency’s damning report which said “there is no need for investments in new fossil fuel supply beyond 2021.” This applies not only to coal, but also oil and gas. Also, research co-authored by the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme shows that oil and gas production needs to decline by about 4% and 3% respectively every year between 2020 and 2030 if global temperature is to be reduced.
Another crucial point that was cited by the economists in their letter is the fact that renewables are becoming the cheapest energy source in most parts of the world. In fact, since 2015, they noted that solar power has become the cheapest form of electricity in history and the cost of electric vehicle batteries has more than halved.
As G7 members inject historic levels of public money into the economy in response to Covid-19, the economists said, “They can take advantage of the tremendous investment opportunities in clean energy and promote a just and equitable transition away from all fossil fuels. We urge G7 leaders to take this opportunity.”
They added, “The urgency of the climate crisis requires that 2021 be a turning point to end investments into fossil fuels. This presents G7 members with both a clear task and an opportunity. Ending new fossil fuel finance will free up billions a year to invest in clean energy, just transition measures and increased support for the clean energy transition in low- and middle-income countries. This will in turn help create the jobs needed to build the greener and more prosperous economy the G7 strives for.”

See below for the full list of signatories:
Alain Grandjean, President, Fondation Nicolas Hulot
1. Alain Karsenty, Senior Researcher, CIRAD
2. Alan Kirman, Professor, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
3. Anaïs Henneguelle, Assistant Professor in Economics, Université Rennes 2
4. Anders Fremstad, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
5. Andrew Simms, Co-Founder, New Weather Institute
6. Anitra Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute
7. Ann Pettifor, Director, Policy Research in Macroeconomics, PRIME
8. Anthony Underwood, Associate Professor, Dickinson College
9. Antoine Monserand, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
10. Anu Muhammad, Professor of Economics, Jahangirnagar University
11. Arianna Briganti, Vice President, NOVE Onlus
12. Ashok Khosla, Dr., Chairman, Development Alternatives
13. Barbara Hogenboom, Dr., Professor of Forensic Business Studies, University of Amsterdam
14. Berly Martawardaya, Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Indonesia & Research Director, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF)
15. Beth Stratford, University of Leeds
16. Birte Strunk, The New School
17. Blanca Tena Estrada, Student Assistant, University of Kassel
18. Bruno Dorin, Researcher, Cirad
19. Carol Osler, Martin and Ahuva Gross Professor of Financial Markets and Institutions, Brandeis University
20. Catherine Boemare, Research Engineer, CIRED, EHESS
21. Christian Kerschner, Dr., Assistant Professor, Modul University Vienna
22. Clair Brown, Professor, University of California Berkeley
23. Claude Henry, Professor of Sustainable Development, Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University
24. Danielle Hirsch, MSc, Both ENDS
25. Denis Dupre, Enseignant-chercheur en éthique, finance et écologie, Université de Grenoble-Alpes
26. Dirk Bezemer, Professor in Economics, University of Groningen
27. Dirk Schoenmaker, Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
28. Eban Goodstein, Dr., Director, MBA in Sustainability at Bard College
29. Elena Hofferberth, Dr., University of Leeds
30. Emilie Pacemakers, Dr., Assistant Professor, Utrecht University
31. Eric Pineault, Professor, Institute of Environmental Sciences, UQAM
32. Evan Friedman, Assistant Professor, University of Essex
33. Friedemann Polzin, Dr., Professor, Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) and Sustainable Finance Lab (SFL)
34. Gail Blattenberger, Associate Professor Merita, University of Utah
35. Gaylor Montmasson-Clair, Senior Economist, Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS)
36. Geoffrey Clarke, Dr., Lecturer in Economics, Brandeis University
37. Gilles Rotillon, Professor in Economics, Université Paris Nanterre
38. Gunseli Berik, Professor, University of Utah
39. Guppi Bola, Co-director of Decolonising Economics
40. Henri Sterdyniak, Economist, Les Economistes Atterrés
41. Herman Wijffels, Dr., Professor, Utrecht University
42. Igor Shishlov, Dr., PhD in Environmental Economics, Perspectives Climate Research
43. Inge Røpke, Professor, Aalborg University
44. Irene van Staveren, Dr., Professor of Pluralist Development Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam
45. James K Boyce, Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
46. Jason Hickel, Dr., Economic Anthropologist, Royal Society of Arts and London School of Economics
47. Jeffrey Sachs, University Professor, Columbia University
48. Jens van ‘t Klooster, Postdoctoral Fellow, KU Leuven
49. Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, Dr., Professor, Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona & Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
50. Jesper Jespersen, Dr., Professor, Roskilde University
51. Jim Stanford, Dr., Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work
52. John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, University of Queensland
53. Jonas Van der Slycken, Dr., Ghent University
54. Jørgen Lindgaard Pedersen, Assistant Professor Emeritus, Technical University of Denmark
55. Josh Ryan-Collins, Dr., Head of Finance and Macroeconomics and Senior Research Fellow, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)
56. Juliet Schor, PhD in Economics, Professor in Sociology, Boston College
57. Karl Behrendt, Elizabeth Creak Chair in Agri-Tech Economic Modelling, Professor, Harper Adams University
58. Kate Raworth, Senior Teaching Associate, University of Oxford
59. Keroboto B. Za’Ngoti Ogutu, Dr., Chair Energy & Prosperity post-doctoral fellow in Mathematics of Macro-economic, Department of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, School of Science, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Nyeri, Kenya
60. Kerstin Hötte, Dr., Oxford Martin Fellow, University of Oxford
61. Kimon Keramidas, MSc, Energy Analyst European Commission, Joint Research Centre
62. Knut Einar Rosendahl, Professor, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
63. Lukas Peter, Dr.
64. Lynda Gagne, Emeritus Professor, University of Victoria
65. Mark Campanale, Founder & Executive Chair, Carbon Tracker Initiative
66. Mark Paul, Assistant Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, New College of Florida
67. Mark Stelzner, Assistant Professor of Economics, Connecticut College
68. Markus Krecik, Dr., Free University Berlin
69. Maxime Combes, Economist, Author of “Let’s get out of the fossil age! Manifesto for the transition” (Seuil)
70. Maximilian Krahé, Dr., Research Assistant, Institute for Socio-Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen
71. Michael Jacobs, Professor, SPERI, University of Sheffield, U.K.
72. Michael Pirson, Associate Professor of Management, Global Sustainability, and Social Entrepreneurship, Fordham University
73. Michel Husson, Economist
74. Miklós Antal, Dr., Ecological Economist, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
75. Mohammad Jabbar, Independent Agriculture and Food Policy Adviser/Consultant
76. Nader Habibi, Henry J. Leir Professor of the Economics of the Middle East, in the Crown Center, and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, Brandeis University
77. Neva Goodwin, Co-director, Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
78. Nick Fitzpatrick, Manager at Frontier Economics, Nova University
79. Noni Makuyana, Co-Director, Decolonising Economics
80. Óscar Carpintero, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Valladolid
81. Peter Newell, Professor, University of Sussex
82. Philippe Delacote, Research Director, INRAE
83. Philippe Quirion, Dr., Senior researcher, CNRS
84. Quentin Perrier, Dr., PhD in Environmental Economics
85. Rens van Tilburg, Director, Sustainable Finance Lab the Netherlands
86. Reyer Gerlagh, Professor of Environmental Economics, Tilburg University Richard Denniss, Chief Economist, Australia Institute
87. Richard Wilkinson, Professor Emeritus, University of Nottingham Medical School
88. Rick van der Ploeg, Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
89. Robert Costanza, Vice-Chancellor’s Chair in Public Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University
90. Robert Freund, Theresa Seles Professor in Management Science, MIT Sloan School of Management
91. Roebyem Anders, Social Entrepreneur, Founder Sungevity International, Stichting Schooldak en Huurdakrevolutie
92. Steve Keen, Professor, Institute for Strategy, Resilience & Security, University College London
93. Sunanda Sen, Former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
94. Tapen Sinha, Dr., ING Commercial America Chair Professor, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Mexico and Chennai Mathematical Institute
95. Tate Soller, Policy Advisor – Economist, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions
96. Thimas E. Weisskopf, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Michigan
97. Thomas Steiner, Director, FluxusTime
98. Thomas Sterner, Professor of Environmental Economics, University of Gothenburg
99. Thure Traber, Dr., Chief Economist, Energywatchgroup
100. Tom Kompas, Professor, University of Melbourne

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