G7 nations have "missed major opportunities" to go green, Tearfund has warned.

The Christian humanitarian agency reports that G7 countries pumped $189bn into coal, oil and gas between January 2020 and March 2021. 

This far surpassed the $147bn spent on clean forms of energy in the same period. 

In its new report, 'Cleaning up their act?', Tearfund says that more than 8 in every 10 dollars committed to fossil fuels was handed over with no requirements to reduce pollution. 

The UK committed the highest per capita to fossil fuels out of the G7 nations, with only 4 per cent having any green strings attached. 

The report warns that G7 nations will fail to meet net-zero targets unless the balance is shifted towards clean energy. 

The UK and other G7 nations have committed to "build back better" after the pandemic, and the report welcomes steps like the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars, and an end to public support for overseas fossil fuel projects.

But Tearfund is urging leaders to go further by ending all support for the production of fossil fuels, and attaching significant green conditions to any remaining support. 

It also wants a minimum of 40 per cent of total Covid-19 recovery spending to go on green measures, and for the debt burdens of low and middle income countries to be eased.  

Paul Cook, the aid agency's Head of Advocacy, said: "Every day, Tearfund witnesses the worsening consequences of the climate crisis for communities around the world - farmers' crops failing; floods and fires engulfing towns and villages; families facing an uncertain future.

"Choices made now by the G7 countries will either accelerate the transition towards a climate-safe future for all, or jeopardise efforts to date to tackle the climate crisis.

"The G7 nations rank among the most polluting countries in the world, representing only a tenth of the global population but almost a quarter of CO2 emissions. Their actions can set the scene for success or failure at the UN Climate talks being hosted by the UK in November."