Group of Seven nations backed away from plans to set a target for making sure most new cars sold are greener vehicles, instead pledging only speed up efforts to move away from combustion engines.

In the final communique yesterday, the bloc included an autos section that was far more modest than earlier versions being discussed.

It pledged to do more to electrify the transport sector but didn’t set firm target dates.

“We recognise that this will require dramatically increasing the pace of the global decarbonisation of the road transport sector throughout the 2020s, and beyond,” the leaders wrote.

“We commit to accelerate the transition away from new sales of diesel and petrol cars to promote the uptake of zero emission vehicles.”

The language is an apparent compromise between the nations, several of whom are major automakers. Earlier drafts of the communique suggested that the G7 “strive” to ensure that the majority of all new passenger car sales are not petrol or diesel-powered “by 2030 or sooner.”

The communique reiterated the promise for rich countries to release $100bn (€82.5bn) annually in support for developing world efforts to cope with climate change transitions. It said the G7 members will all increase their contributions but did not disclose by how much.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said getting to $100bn a year would not be “easy” but he was confident the target would be met.

“Whilst G7 leaders reaffirmed their overdue promise of $100bn a year in climate support to poorer countries, those same countries will be disappointed that they leave Cornwall with no new money apparently on the table,” said Gareth Redmond-King from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.

The G7 leaders also promised to deliver at least one billion extra doses of vaccines over the next year in the most dramatic element of the bloc’s effort to help bring an end to the global Covid-19 pandemic.