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.

“We commit to doing our part to achieve a low-carbon global economy in the long-term, including developing and deploying innovative technologies striving for a transformation of the energy sectors by 2050, and invite all countries to join us in this endeavour,” a communique read. G7 host Angela Merkel hoped to get the nations to agree specific emissions goals ahead of a larger year-end UN climate meeting in Paris.

“They’ve given important political signals, but they could have done more, particularly by making concrete national commitments for immediate action,” said Sam Smith, leader of the WWF Global Climate and Energy Initiative.

The Europeans had pressed their G7 partners to sign up to legally-binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, and EU took a firm stance on Russia and its involvement in the Ukraine conflict. Merkel said the G7 countries were ready, if necessary, to strengthen sanctions against Russia.

The leaders want Russia and Ukraine to comply with a February 12 ceasefire agreed in Minsk that largely halted fighting in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces.

“We are also ready, should the situation escalate, which we don’t want, to strengthen sanctions if the situation makes that necessary, but we believe we should do everything to move forward the political process of Minsk,” Merkel said.

The leaders said they expected Russia to stop its support for separatist forces in Ukraine and implement the Minsk agreements in full.

They said sanctions “can be rolled back when Russia meets these commitments”.