Policy paper

G7 Climate and Environment: Ministers’ Communiqué, London, 21 May 2021

Published 21 May 2021

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Joint commitments

We, the G7 Ministers responsible for Climate and Environment, met virtually on 20 -21 May 2021.

As we continue to address the ongoing pandemic, we acknowledge with grave concern that the unprecedented and interdependent crises of climate change and biodiversity loss pose an existential threat to nature, people, prosperity and security. We recognise that some of the key drivers of global biodiversity loss and climate change are the same as those that increase the risk of zoonoses, which can lead to pandemics. We highlight that urgent and concrete action is needed to move towards global sustainability, further mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as halt and reverse biodiversity loss and environmental degradation. We recognise that climate change and the health of the natural environment are intrinsically linked and will ensure that the actions we take maximise the opportunities to solve these crises in parallel.

We will do this by building back better from the pandemic, and we stress our determination to put climate, biodiversity, and the environment at the heart of our COVID-19 recovery strategies and investments. In doing so, we will transform our economies to promote sustainable development, deliver decent green jobs and build resilience. We will also accelerate the clean energy transition, improve resource efficiency, including by reducing food loss and waste and promoting a circular economic approach, transition to sustainable supply chains and mainstream nature, including biodiversity, and climate into economic decision-making. We will help set the world on a nature positive and climate-resilient pathway to bend the curve of biodiversity loss by 2030 and to keep a limit of 1.5°C temperature rise within reach by making our 2030 ambitions consistent with the aim of achieving net zero emissions as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest.

We recognise these are global challenges which require urgent and ambitious global action at all levels. We reaffirm our commitment to international cooperation and multilateralism, and will work collectively to implement fully our national and international commitments. In this critical year of action we recognise the need to increase global ambition and enhance collaboration, underpinned by the most ambitious sub-national, national and international action. We call on all countries to join us in action.

The COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the importance of science and evidence in government policies and decision-making. Recent assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the International Resource Panel (IRP), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have documented that rapid and far-reaching transformations across all sectors of society and the economy are necessary to tackle climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Recalling the outcomes of previous G7 meetings on Earth observation systems, we recognise the important role of research and systematic observation to provide information on the state of the planet and support and guide action to address climate change and conserve, protect and restore essential and biodiverse ecosystems. We will ensure our domestic action and international commitments are informed by the best available science and will support others wishing to enhance their evidence-based policy-making processes by sharing our experiences and best practices.

Tackling the twin crises of Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss

We recognise the critical role the ocean and seas play for biodiversity and in regulating the Earth’s climate, absorbing over 90 percent of all excess heat in the Earth’s system and between 20-30 percent of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions since the 1980s, providing a home to up to 80 percent of all life on Earth, and a healthy ocean is central to the livelihoods of more than three billion people. We therefore commit to increase efforts at international, regional and national level, to conserve and sustainably use the ocean, thus increasing its resilience.

We recognise the critical role of our world’s forests as home to most of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, reducing our vulnerability to climate change impacts, improving our adaptability and resilience, and acting as key carbon sinks with tropical forests capturing and storing up to 1.8 GtCO2 from the atmosphere every year. We recognise deforestation and forest degradation as a significant cause of climate change. We commit to urgent action to conserve, protect and restore natural ecosystems including forests and habitat connectivity and promote sustainable forest management. We also commit to implement decarbonisation pathways that do not cause further biodiversity loss or deforestation.

We recognise the crucial role of Nature-based Solutions in delivering significant multiple benefits for climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity, and people and thereby contributing to the achievement of various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such benefits include, among others, improving air quality, water quality and availability, soil health, storm and flood protection, disaster risk reduction, and alleviating and preventing land degradation. Nature-based Solutions can also provide sustainable livelihoods through protecting and supporting a wide range of ecosystem services on which the world’s most vulnerable and poorest people disproportionately rely. We therefore commit to strengthen their deployment and implementation. We stress that Nature-based Solutions do not replace the necessity for urgent decarbonisation and reduction of emissions, but are needed alongside these efforts. In addition to action on the ocean and forests, we commit to take urgent action across ecosystems, including soils, grasslands, savannah, drylands, wetlands, coral reefs, rivers, lakes, coastal dunes, peatland, seagrass beds, mangroves and saltmarshes, whilst ensuring that relevant safeguards are in place.

We reiterate that achieving our collective ambitions will require all sources of finance: public and private, domestic and international, including innovative sources. We commit to using all relevant sources, tools and approaches, including Official Development Assistance and other sources of finance, to support and accelerate global action to tackle climate change and conserve, protect, restore and sustainably manage nature and the environment. We underscore the importance of a predictable investment environment and clear public policies and strategies in facilitating the alignment of global and national financial flows with these objectives, and as such, welcome the UK’s incoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP26 Presidency’s ambitious efforts as they relate to mobilising private and public finance. We are each working intensively to increase the quantity of finance for climate mitigation and adaptation actions, including for Nature-based Solutions, and are committed to increasing its effectiveness, accessibility, and where possible its predictability, and call on others to join us in these efforts. In conjunction with these efforts, we are working intensively towards increasing the quantity of finance to nature and Nature-based Solutions. We reaffirm our commitment to the collective developed country climate finance goal to jointly mobilise US$100 billion annually by 2020 through to 2025 from a wide variety of sources, and welcome the commitments already made by some of the G7 to increase climate finance and look forward to new commitments from others well ahead of COP26 in Glasgow. We will promote enabling environments to mobilise private finance towards these efforts while also enhancing action from the international community to support the poorest and those most vulnerable to climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. We are committed to further enhance synergies between finance for climate and biodiversity and to promote funding that has co-benefits for climate and nature.

We call upon Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), bilateral Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), multilateral funds, public banks, and export credit agencies to ensure that financial flows from these institutions are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and support the objectives of international biodiversity conventions including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, by increasing finance for nature and climate, and leveraging further private capital, in particular for developing countries and emerging markets. We call on MDBs, bilateral DFIs and other support providers to mobilise finance at scale by delivering on their climate finance objectives and targets, and nature finance objectives, making them more ambitious, and mainstreaming climate and nature into their analysis, policy advice, decision-making and financing. We further call on all MDBs to publish, before the UNFCCC COP26, a plan and date by which their operations will be aligned with and support the goals of the Paris Agreement, and encourage them to sign a joint statement committing them to mainstream nature across their operations as appropriate. We also urge the MDBs to commit their private sector arms to pilot and scale up private finance programmes for nature and climate, in particular in under-funded sectors like adaptation and resilience and Nature-based Solutions.

In the context of building back better and achieving a global green recovery from COVID-19, we acknowledge the particularly significant impacts faced by developing countries and that increasing debt burdens can constrain fiscal space and the ability to provide stimulus for a green recovery alongside other development objectives, including access to clean and sustainable energy for all. We recognise that macro and fiscal policies, a free, fair and rules-based multilateral trading system, international initiatives and domestic efforts to create an enabling environment to mobilise private finance, offer a powerful tool to both transforming and revitalising economies. We thank Professor Lord Stern for his work and note with interest his paper on “G7 Leadership for Sustainable, Resilient and Inclusive Growth and Recovery” as commissioned by the UK G7 Presidency. We welcome the discussions of Finance Ministers on supporting a global recovery and their role in enabling a smooth transition to net zero, addressing biodiversity loss, and mobilising the private sector.

Leaving no-one behind

We recognise the disproportionate impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation on the most vulnerable communities, people living in poverty and those already facing intersecting inequalities and discrimination, including women and girls, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups. We will increase our efforts to address environmental justice issues in order to make their voices heard and support their full, equal and meaningful participation in decision-making, recognising their critical role as leaders and agents of change, and adapting new and existing policies to support social justice, economic empowerment and achieving gender equality. We further recognise the need to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, as acknowledged in national law and international instruments, and respect and value their knowledge and leadership in tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. We are steadfastly committed to addressing barriers to accessing finance for climate and nature faced by women, marginalised people, and underrepresented groups and increasing the gender-responsiveness and inclusivity of finance. We reaffirm our commitment to implementing the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and its associated SDGs and taking action in support of the UNFCCC, CBD and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Gender Action Plans.

We will ensure that the transition to a net zero emissions and nature positive economy happens in a fair and inclusive way. This transition must go hand in hand with policies and support for a just transition for affected workers, and sectors so that no person, group or geographic region is left behind.

Climate change

A G7 committed to accelerating progress under the Paris Agreement

We reaffirm our strong and steadfast commitment to strengthening implementation of the Paris Agreement and to unleashing its full potential. To this end we will make ambitious and accelerated efforts to reduce emissions to keep a limit of 1.5°C temperature rise within reach, strengthen adaptation to the impacts of climate change, scale-up finance and support, protect, restore and sustainably manage nature, and enhance inclusive and gender-responsive action. We affirm our commitment to work with these objectives in mind towards a successful COP26 in Glasgow and beyond.

A net zero G7 leading a step change in mitigation

There is a global imperative to pursue efforts to limit the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognising that the avoided climate impacts are greater at 1.5°C than 2°C, as stated in the IPCC’s 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C. This will require meaningful action by all countries, in particular the major emitting economies, pursuant to continuous improvement in climate and environmental action to align with a pathway that keeps 1.5°C within reach. We, G7 members, will lead by example and each commit to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest.

We affirm the importance of taking domestic action to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and of pursuing further actions to enhance the benefits of the Montreal Protocol in ozone layer protection and tackling climate change, and call upon all countries who have not already done so to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.

Short-term action – building back better and more resilient through a net zero pathway

Accelerating the transformation of the global economy towards a net zero pathway will depend upon securing a green, sustainable, resilient, inclusive and gender-responsive recovery from COVID-19 in a manner consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, leaving no one behind. To accelerate progress towards achieving our Paris Agreement goals, we need to harness the significant opportunities for sustainable development – including green jobs and sustainable, resilient growth – by making investments in the recovery from COVID-19 that are aligned with pathways towards our respective enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and 2050 net zero commitments, recognising the risk of stranded assets associated with high carbon investments.

Medium and long-term action – guided by net zero aligned NDCs and LTSs

We highlight with deep concern the findings from the IPCC Special Report 2018, and recognise the need to reduce the global level of annual GHG emissions to 25-30 Gt of carbon dioxide equivalent or lower by 2030 to put the world on track to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in order to reduce the risk of catastrophic consequences of climate change. We commit to submitting long-term strategies (LTSs) that set out concrete pathways to net zero GHG emissions by 2050 as soon as possible, making utmost efforts to do so by COP26. We commit to updating them regularly, including to reflect on the latest science, as well as technological and market developments. We also note with concern the initial version of the NDC Synthesis Report prepared by the UNFCCC Secretariat which highlights that many parties are yet to submit new and updated NDCs. NDCs communicated by 2020 collectively fall far short of the ranges found in pathways identified by the IPCC, which limit global warming to 1.5°C or well below 2°C. We welcome the significantly enhanced ambition reflected in 2030 targets announced by all G7 members, which put us on clear and credible pathways towards our respective 2050 net zero GHG emission reduction targets. We note the important contribution these commitments make towards keeping 1.5°C within reach and in providing an unequivocal direction of travel for business, investors and society at large. Those of us who have not already done so commit to submitting our enhanced NDCs to the UNFCCC as soon as possible ahead of COP26.

The G7 members cannot tackle climate change alone. The G7 calls on all countries, in particular other major emitting economies, to join the growing numbers that have made 2050 net zero commitments, to present specific and credible strategies for achieving them – including LTSs – and to enhance their NDCs accordingly to keep 1.5°C within reach, highlighting the importance of parties who have not already done so submitting their increased ambition NDCs to the UNFCCC as soon as possible ahead of COP26.

We reaffirm our commitment that our successive NDCs will represent a progression and reflect the highest possible level of ambition, in alignment with the Paris Agreement. Both our NDCs and LTSs will remain informed by the global stocktake outcomes and the best available science – particularly IPCC reports (including the forthcoming 6th Assessment Report), as well as IPBES reports. In preparing and implementing our NDCs, we reaffirm our commitment to public participation. We highlight the important and active role of all levels of government as well as businesses, workers, local communities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academia, Indigenous Peoples, youth and other non-state actors in driving ambitious climate action, including in a gender-responsive manner. We call for an enhanced Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action (MPGCA) to accelerate and broaden climate ambition and action in this regard, with improved tracking of its initiatives. We recognise the benefits of enhanced international collaboration in driving action in all sectors as part of an economy-wide effort.

More people protected from climate impacts

We acknowledge with grave concern the impacts of climate change already being experienced worldwide, particularly by those most vulnerable to them. We commit to enhance, accelerate and scale up adaptation actions, including Nature-based Solutions, and to support the most vulnerable to adapt to and cope with the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, identified by plans at local, national and sub-national levels, including ambitious National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). We reaffirm our commitment to Article 9.4 of the Paris Agreement, which calls for the provision of scaled-up financial resources to aim to achieve a balance between adaptation and mitigation, taking into account country-driven strategies. This includes continuing to scale-up finance contributing to adaptation action. We highlight the important role of businesses, workers, investors, cities, women, Indigenous Peoples and civil society in mobilising action to support vulnerable communities. Finally, we call on all states and non-state actors to cooperate to enhance adaptation and resilience, including through the Adaptation Action Coalition, InsuResilience Global Partnership, and National Adaptation Plans Global Network, and for non-state actors to join the Race to Resilience Campaign to strengthen the resilience of 4 billion people in vulnerable communities by 2030, and to participate in the adaptation activities undertaken within the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action. Recognising the importance of adaptation in our own national planning, we G7 members commit to submitting Adaptation Communications as soon as possible, and if feasible by COP26. We further affirm our commitment to a diverse and inclusive, gender-responsive, participatory and fully transparent approach, taking into consideration vulnerable groups, communities and ecosystems in the delivery of adaptation policies, plans, strategies and actions. As Climate and Environment Ministers, we acknowledge and fully support the work of the Foreign and Development Ministers’ track to increase action on adaptation and protect more people from climate impacts, including the commitment to continue scaling up finance contributing to adaptation action.

Mobilising and aligning finance to support the green recovery

We, the G7, reaffirm our commitment to the collective developed country goal of jointly mobilising US$100 billion annually through to 2025, from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral and in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation. We welcome the commitments already made by some of the G7 to increase climate finance and look forward to new commitments from others well ahead of COP26 in Glasgow. We underline G7 commitments to further strengthen the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as an effective tool in implementing the Paris Agreement. Further, we highlight the Paris Agreement’s recognition that mobilising finance requires a global effort. In this context, we encourage all potential contributors of official finance, including emerging economies, to join existing providers in supporting climate action in developing countries. We underline the urgent need to scale up efforts to mobilise the private sector if we are to achieve a global green recovery and net zero emissions by 2050, recognising the critical role that innovative financing vehicles, bilateral and multilateral finance institutions, blended finance, policies, risk pools and enabling environments play in this regard.

We affirm the crucial importance of making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low GHG emissions and climate-resilient development, as reflected in Article 2.1.c of the Paris Agreement and in line with the SDGs. As part of our efforts towards this objective, we commit to making official finance flows consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement and call on all countries, as well as MDBs, DFIs, multilateral funds, public banks and export credit agencies to join us in this effort. We emphasise the transformative role of the policies and actions of all governments, but also public and private stakeholders in creating the right enabling environments to support climate action and in integrating climate change into economic and financial decision-making processes. We also urge businesses and investors to join the Race to Zero, align their portfolios with the goals of the Paris Agreement and set science-based net zero targets of 2050 at the latest.

We recognise the potential of carbon markets and carbon pricing to foster cost-efficient reductions in emission levels, drive innovation and boost the breakthrough of technologies that enable a transformation to net zero. We affirm the fundamental importance of environmental integrity and sustainable development in the design of high integrity carbon market mechanisms, including those used for voluntary purposes, which should be based on robust rules and accounting that ensure avoidance of all forms of double counting. They should require the use of conservative emissions and emissions reductions estimations and assumptions, as well as safeguards to mitigate carbon leakage risks, avoid negative social and biodiversity impacts, and to address potential reversals. We further note that such mechanisms can mobilise private finance and help to close the ambition gap for limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

Unleashing the full potential of the Paris Agreement

We are steadfast in our commitment to achieving an ambitious set of outcomes from COP26 in line with the objectives set out above. We emphasise the importance of finalising the outstanding mandates relating to the Paris Rulebook – including the adoption of common tables and formats for the enhanced transparency framework, decisions on cooperative approaches (Article 6), and common time frames for NDCs – in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability and ensures environmental integrity. We will address mandates and deliver on our commitments across the three pillars of the Paris Agreement – on mitigation, adaptation, and support – and enhance international collaboration to accelerate global implementation ahead of COP26 and beyond. We will have a continued focus on supporting those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and will continue to support developing country partners as they pursue green, sustainable, resilient, inclusive and gender-responsive recoveries from COVID-19. This includes providing support with the preparation and implementation of national plans and commitments (including NDCs, LTSs, NAPs and Adaptation Communications) bilaterally, through our contributions to multilateral funds and through the NDC Partnership and other such initiatives. We welcome the creation by the OECD of the ‘International Programme for Action on Climate’ as part of the ‘Horizontal Project on Climate and Economic Resilience in the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy’, and look forward to its possible contribution to climate action.

Supporting the transition to a net zero economy

We recognise that the transition to net zero will depend upon developing the skilled workforce necessary to deliver it, in a way that leaves no one behind, by building on the skills and knowledge in transitioning sectors, developing new labour markets for decent work and quality green jobs, as well as investing in pioneering clean and sustainable industries and technologies. We will address the challenges workers face by ensuring that they have the appropriate skills and training to build back greener, alongside a long-term plan for skills needed for a net zero economy, in a gender-responsive way. This will support the creation of green jobs, a diverse workforce, and will support workers in high carbon sectors to gain skills and knowledge to implement more sustainable practices and green technologies. We reaffirm our commitment under the Equal by 30 Campaign to work towards equal pay, leadership and opportunities for women in the clean energy sector by 2030. We agree to deepen efforts to advance gender equality and diversity in the energy sector, including under the Equal by 30 Campaign by adopting a set of strengthened commitments. This will support our commitment to make diversity and gender equality central to the global energy sector’s recovery efforts and help build a more inclusive and equitable energy future. We acknowledge the need for specific support for all workers as part of a clean energy transition.

We recognise that delivering and accelerating the transition to a net zero global economy will require scaled-up international collaboration. The institutional architecture to enable this should be structured and strengthened appropriately where needed, utilising synergies with existing initiatives to ensure net zero emissions are achieved on an economy-wide basis. We will convene to review the pace of the transition required in each sector to meet the Paris Agreement goals, and the international landscape of institutions and sectoral fora to decarbonise major emitting sectors, with a view to strengthening collaboration in key sectors up to COP26 and beyond.

We recognise the importance of working closely with city, state and regional governments in driving the transition to a net zero economy, and the vital role of national governments to support such actions. We highlight the role of cities in piloting a future with net zero emissions, through innovative and sustainable energy solutions. Local governments and sub-national actors, including businesses, workers, communities and civil society, are central to taking ambitious action on high-emitting sectors and should implement solutions that curb emissions while ensuring equitable and inclusive development for citizens and communities. We will implement a range of measures to encourage and empower citizens, business, communities and regions to decarbonise, including supporting the development of local strategies and plans, encouraging investments for the implementation of model projects for low carbon urban infrastructure, encouraging behavioural change, utilising information systems to promote the transparency of local actions and achievements, and disseminating good practices of concrete actions.

Net zero energy

We recognise the key contribution of energy efficiency as “the first fuel” to emissions reduction, energy security, economic growth, sustainable development, alleviating energy poverty, and job creation. We therefore note with concern the decline in the global rate of energy efficiency improvements and commit to strengthen our efforts to deliver improvements in buildings, industry and transport. We continue to emphasise the need for stronger international exchanges to learn about best practices in this policy space. We stress the importance of strengthening and coordinating international collaboration in developing policy frameworks for new business models and to ensure the necessary investments in energy efficiency measures in all sectors. We therefore welcome the establishment of the Energy Efficiency Hub, hosted at the International Energy Agency, as a key international forum for global collaboration on energy efficiency. We welcome the Super-Efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative. We further endorse its goal of doubling the efficiency of four key energy-using products sold globally by 2030: lighting, cooling, refrigeration, and motor systems, and will contribute to that end using the full policy toolkit at our disposal.

We affirm the fundamental role of renewable energy sources. We welcome the rapid growth, decreasing cost and increasing value of renewable energy technologies around the world. We stress the need for their further integration in the systems, and we recognise that renewables are a major driver of economic growth, jobs, and increased access to affordable energy. We recognise that the significant progress made in the development and deployment of renewable energy has been driven by a virtuous circle of technological development, a supportive regulatory and policy environment including innovative market designs, and industry-led cost reductions. We affirm our commitment to supporting the development and deployment of renewable energy globally, particularly for developing countries, as well as accelerating the development and deployment of renewable heating and cooling, where a step change in progress is urgently required. We recognise the importance of promoting clean energy transitions in islands, as well as in remote and rural communities, through innovative renewable energy solutions, fostering self-determination and community ownership of resources.

We recognise the role of energy storage as an enabling technology to support the transformation of the global economy towards a net zero pathway. We commit to drive energy storage technology innovation and accelerate its commercialisation and deployment by supporting the private sector in reducing the cost and increasing the performance of energy storage technologies, through policies and tools supportive of energy storage market adoption, including regulatory frameworks and market structures.

Recognising that coal power generation is the single biggest cause of global temperature increases, we commit now to rapidly scale-up technologies and policies that further accelerate the transition away from unabated coal capacity and to an overwhelmingly decarbonised power system in the 2030s, consistent with our 2030 NDCs and net zero commitments. In doing so, we reaffirm the importance of national energy security and resilience and underscore the importance of providing support for affected workers, regions and communities. We welcome with appreciation the work of the Energy Transition Council in supporting the new economic opportunities and sustained quality job creation offered by a transition to clean energy in developing countries. We commit to exploring further ways that we can accelerate global progress towards net zero power, including leading by example as the G7, and working with collaborative initiatives and institutions. We note that several G7 members participate in the Powering Past Coal Alliance. We will convene by COP26 to lay the groundwork for further joint action by G7 members.

In line with Article 2.1.c of the Paris Agreement, we commit to aligning official international financing with the global achievement of net zero GHG emissions no later than 2050 and deep emissions reductions in the 2020s. We commit to promoting the increased international flow of public and private capital toward Paris Agreement-aligned investments and away from high-carbon power generation to support the clean energy transition in developing countries. In this context, we will phase out new direct government support for carbon intensive international fossil fuel energy, except in limited circumstances at the discretion of each country, in a manner that is consistent with an ambitious, clearly defined pathway towards climate neutrality in order to keep 1.5°C within reach, in line with the long-term objectives of the Paris Agreement and best available science. Consistent with this overall approach and recognising that continued global investment in unabated coal power generation is incompatible with keeping 1.5°C within reach, we stress that international investments in unabated coal must stop now and commit to take concrete steps towards an absolute end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021, including through Official Development Assistance, export finance, investment, and financial and trade promotion support. We commit to reviewing our official trade, export and development finance policies towards these objectives. We further call on other major economies to adopt these commitments. We welcome the support provided and mobilised by DFIs and multilateral funds, including the GCF, to support the energy transition. In particular, we note the recent Climate Investment Funds board decision to launch new sector specific funds, including those to accelerate coal transitions, and support renewable energy deployment in emerging economies.

We reaffirm the need to take into account the imperative of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities, as reflected in the Paris Agreement. Recalling the SDGs, we commit ourselves to a people-centred transition, that will work to create decent employment in the low carbon economy while making energy more accessible, affordable, and cleaner for all communities. We support reskilling workers across industries and communities and developing the industries of the future, as the clean energy transition continues to gather momentum. We welcome the substantial economic opportunities inherent in a people-centred transition, including alleviating energy poverty for people and communities, removing barriers to employment, especially for marginalised populations, which will in turn lead to substantial and equitable economic growth and prosperity for all.

We recognise that inefficient fossil fuel subsidies encourage wasteful consumption, reduce energy security, impede investment in clean energy sources, and undermine efforts to deal with the threat of climate change. We reaffirm our commitment to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025 and encourage all countries to adopt this commitment. We encourage greater international action to meet this commitment and we support calls for greater transparency.

We recognise the importance of ambitious and urgent action to reduce emissions and leakage of methane (fossil and biogenic) from the energy sector, as well as waste and agricultural sectors, and of other potent warming substances, such as black carbon, in order to slow global warming. This will require improved measurement and reporting to better locate and quantify these emissions.

We recognise the importance of maintaining energy security as we transform our energy systems and the need for energy markets that are open, flexible, transparent, competitive, stable, sustainable, reliable and resilient. We reaffirm the need for investment to ensure energy supply and demand remain balanced throughout energy transitions, recognising the need for energy demand to be met by sources that align with our Paris Agreement and net zero objectives. We commit to developing strategies and actions that enhance our focus on the security of innovative, clean, safe, and sustainable energy technologies. This includes resilience in the face of cyber security threats, the system integration of variable renewable energy, energy storage, flexible power plants, hydrogen, as well as demand side management, smart grids, and related infrastructure including the accommodation of sustainable biofuels and hydrogen. We recognise the important role of electricity interconnection in market integration, flexibility and promoting decarbonisation, alongside supporting security of supply and system security. We recognise that natural gas may still be needed during the clean energy transition on a time-limited basis and we will work to abate related emissions towards overwhelmingly decarbonised power systems in the 2030s. We also note the importance of ensuring secure, safe and sustainable clean energy supply chains, including with regards to critical minerals and critical renewables components.

We affirm that access to secure affordable, reliable, sustainable, clean and modern energy is a key enabler of the SDGs. We welcome progress made to increase energy access and eradicate energy poverty worldwide, while noting that the world remains off-track to meet our SDG for access to energy. We note the essential role of gender equality in achieving sustainable energy access and welcome synergies with the work of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council. We stress the importance of achieving universal, equitable and sustainable access in driving forward a global and inclusive clean energy transition that addresses the disproportionate impact of energy poverty on vulnerable and marginalised populations, both in developing countries and in more mature economies. We welcome the UN commitment to address progress on SDG7 within the High-Level Energy Dialogue.

Those countries that opt to use it reaffirmed the role of nuclear energy in their energy mix. Those countries recognise its potential to provide affordable low carbon energy and contribute to the security of energy supply as a baseload energy source.

Net zero mobility

We stress the urgent need to promote sustainable mobility and reduce GHG emissions from the transport sector to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050. We recognise that this will require dramatically increasing the pace of the global decarbonisation of the road transport sector throughout the 2020s and beyond, consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement and our respective 2030 NDCs and net zero commitments. In this regard, and as part of this effort, we welcome and support the Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council and will work with other global partners to accelerate the deployment of zero emission vehicles for passengers and freight, including exploring ways to support developing countries in making the transition. We further recognise the commitments of some states to the target of sales of passenger cars being zero emission by 2040 or earlier. Furthermore, we also need to promote decarbonising the entire life cycle of vehicles. We commit to support transitioning our industrial bases and providing ambitious investment to research, further develop, and scale up the technologies needed to support a rapidly growing global market for sustainable mobility. We will intensify our efforts in enhancing the offer of more sustainable transport modes in urban and rural areas, including public transport, shared mobility, cycling and walking, and supporting inter-modal transport with investment in rail and waterborne infrastructure.

We further recognise the urgent need for effective efforts to reduce emissions from the international aviation and maritime sectors to put both sectors on a pathway of emissions reduction consistent with the mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement. We commit to supporting the development and adoption of ambitious mid- and long-term measures at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and to building a global consensus on strengthening the levels of ambition in the initial IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships in the context of its forthcoming revision, with the aim of contributing to the Paris Agreement temperature goal. We will also support the development and adoption of an ambitious long-term global goal at the International Civil Aviation Organization in line with our vision for decarbonising the aviation sector.

Net zero innovation

We recognise clean energy innovation as a driver of sustainable and inclusive growth to create jobs, an enabler of a resilient economic recovery. We also recognise the need to accelerate innovation this decade to meet our net zero goal by 2050 or sooner. This includes scaling up demonstrations and the early deployment of zero and negative carbon technologies while ensuring negative impacts on the environment and human wellbeing are avoided. This must be enabled by mechanisms and clear signals, including an increased focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance, that incentivise private sector investment to fast-track innovations to the market. To accelerate the pace of industry decarbonisation, we commit to launch the G7 Industrial Decarbonisation Agenda to complement and support the activities of existing key initiatives and amplify ambition, while plugging critical gaps in the landscape wherever they exist.

For the G7, we commit to increasing clean energy innovation investments to a level in line with our net zero ambition. We support the launch of a second phase of Mission Innovation as a global platform to strengthen international cooperation that will continually promote increased clean energy innovation ambition and concrete actions for clean energy technical innovation. We support the commencement of Clean Energy Ministerial’s third phase as a global platform to share experience, raise ambition, and implement cooperative action for clean energy deployment, including innovative policy, regulatory and market measures. We encourage closer alignment between Mission Innovation and the Clean Energy Ministerial to better coordinate efforts from innovation all the way through to the deployment of clean and sustainable energy technologies including through energy efficiency and from renewable energy sources. We will design appropriate pull mechanisms to accelerate the innovation and scaling up of clean energy and net zero technologies across G7 members and to support the green transition in developing countries. We also acknowledge that the successful deployment of clean energy technologies requires further investment in a skilled, technologically advanced and diverse workforce.

Innovation that supports net zero industries can help existing sectors through the transition, as well as creating additional value with the birth of new industries. We will work together in the lead up to COP26, building on existing initiatives to coordinate action on standards and public procurement in order to create globally competitive markets for green industrial products. In parallel, we will also work to reduce emissions from key industrial processes through enhanced energy efficiency, the development of circular economy and resource efficiency principles, electrification, comprehensive industrial heat utilisation and reduced waste in industry, fuel switching and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS). We recognise the importance of early action to decarbonise hard-to-abate industrial sectors such as iron and steel, cement, chemicals, and petrochemicals, to ensure that emissions across the entire economy reach net zero by 2050. For these hard to abate sectors to achieve this, we commit to targeting greater levels of innovation funding to lower the costs of industrial decarbonisation technologies, including the use of hydrogen, electrification, sustainable biomass, CCUS and synthetic fuels (including ammonia and fuels made from hydrogen). Acknowledging that achieving net zero industry will require enhanced global efforts, we will support low and middle-income countries through financial and technical cooperation, as well as in multilateral fora. We will work together to accelerate the decarbonisation of industry, and welcome the development of the new Industrial Decarbonisation Innovation Mission and the launch of the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative, while supporting ongoing activities in the Leadership Group for Industry Transition.

We recognise the importance of renewable and low carbon hydrogen on the pathway to net zero. We will step up efforts to advance commercial scale hydrogen from low carbon and renewable sources across our economies, including support for fuel cell deployment globally. This will help realise the development of a future international hydrogen market that creates new jobs for current and future workers in the energy sector.

While the focus must remain on protecting and expanding our natural carbon sinks, we recognise that negative emissions technologies, such as Direct Air Capture, can also play a role in reaching net zero GHG emissions. Negative emissions will be required to offset residual emissions in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise completely. Technical solutions such as CCUS, and carbon recycling where appropriate, will also be important for some countries in meeting our goal of a net zero economy.

Environment 

Resetting our relationship with nature

 

A healthy natural environment is critical to human health, wellbeing and prosperity globally and underpins sustainable development. Despite existing global agreements for the protection, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of biodiversity, global negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystem functions are projected to continue or worsen. We therefore confirm our strong determination to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, building on the G7 Metz Charter on Biodiversity and the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature as appropriate.

We recall with deep concern the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the 2021 UNEP Making Peace with Nature report. We commit to take urgent action to address the five direct drivers of biodiversity loss, all a result of human activity: changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species. We will also address overexploitation and illegal exploitation of resources as well as the indirect drivers identified, including those caused by unsustainable methods and patterns of consumption and production. We stress that concerted and collaborative action is needed by all partners and stakeholders including governments, businesses, farmers, academia and scientists, NGOs, citizens, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, and underline the importance of including these groups in co-design, decision-making and implementation.

We commit to raise ambition and accelerate and intensify action, including at CBD COP 15, UNFCCC COP 26, Ramsar COP 14, UNCCD COP 15, UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) 5, UN Food Systems Summit and the UN Ocean Conference, and in support of the UN Decades on Ecosystem Restoration and Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. We will also build on existing synergies, break down silos and support linkages at the domestic and institutional level across relevant Multilateral Environmental Agreements, as appropriate, including Regional Seas Conventions.

Highlighting the urgent need for transformative action, we will champion the agreement and successful implementation of an ambitious and effective post 2020 global biodiversity framework to be adopted by parties at CBD COP15 to protect, conserve and restore ecosystems, halt and reverse biodiversity loss, ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, increase resilience to climate change and sustain healthy ecosystems on which our lives, well-being and economies depend. We commit to champion ambitious and effective global biodiversity targets, including conserving or protecting at least 30 percent of global land and at least 30 percent of the global ocean by 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and address climate change, including through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) by 2030 (30by30), recognising that Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, are full partners in the implementation of this target. We will strive to ensure the effective and equitable management of protected areas and OECMs, and strive to improve their ecological connectivity, with a focus on areas that deliver the greatest benefits for global biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate protection. We underline the importance of a strong accountability framework that strengthens implementation and increases transparency of our actions to meet these targets, and will actively support the development of robust implementation, monitoring and review frameworks. We will enhance or put in place robust, science-based domestic implementation plans, strategies and policies to conserve, protect and restore terrestrial, freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems and play our part in successfully delivering these global goals and targets. We will work with the competent international and regional organisations, including Regional Seas programmes, Regional Seas Conventions and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs). We will contribute to 30by30 by conserving or protecting at least 30 percent of our own land, including terrestrial and inland waters, and coastal and marine areas by 2030 according to national circumstances and approaches.

Mainstreaming nature

According to the WEF “New Nature Economy Report 2020”, over half the world’s GDP in 2019, almost US$44 trillion, was generated from industries that depend on nature. Waldron et al in their report “Protecting 30% of the planet for nature: costs, benefits and economic implications” suggest that achieving 30 percent protection in two biomes alone could result in gross economic benefits of US$170 billion to US$530 billion per annum by 2050. The report also states that the global financial cost of adequately protecting 30 percent of all the earth’s land and ocean has been estimated to be between US$103 billion and US$177.5 billion per annum. It is clear therefore that the economic benefits of protecting and conserving the land and ocean far outweigh the financial costs of doing so.

We welcome the contribution of the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity, which builds on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) process among other initiatives. Its conclusion that a fundamental change is needed in how we think about and approach economics if we are to reverse biodiversity loss and protect and enhance our prosperity will inform our work. We will work collaboratively to build on the Dasgupta Review insights and those of other such reports, as appropriate, to support efforts for economic and financial decision-making to account for the goods and services we derive from, and the intrinsic value attributed to nature. We commit to take the urgent and transformative action required to ensure that a deep understanding of ecosystem processes, their interlinkages, and how they are affected by economic activity, is incorporated as part of economic and financial decision-making. To ensure appropriate management of environmental risks and reduce related transaction costs, we will also work with businesses and other stakeholders in developing standardised natural capital accounting practices. We welcome the work being done by the UN Statistical Commission to continue updating the SEEA ecosystem accounting system.

We commit to mainstream nature into all sectors and policies. We recognise the urgency and call for the integration of both climate and nature-related risks into organisational risk management architecture, and of investing in natural capital, which will enable finance to play a greater role by pivoting towards nature positive projects and investments. We recognise the importance of work on nature-related financial disclosure and note with interest the establishment of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and its aims.

We note the analysis from the OECD, which provides policy recommendations based on the findings of the Dasgupta Review, among other reports. The G7 commits to review these recommendations in order to identify actions to mainstream nature into financial and economic decision-making. In particular we note the OECD’s analysis and recognise the harmful effect of some subsidies on the environment and people’s livelihoods. We therefore commit to lead by example by reviewing relevant policies with recognised harmful impacts on nature and will take action, as appropriate, to deliver nature positive outcomes.

Preventing and combatting zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) using a One Health approach

The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that human, plant, animal and environmental health are interdependent and we therefore stress the importance of a strengthened One Health approach. We welcome the contribution of the IPBES Workshop Report on Biodiversity and Pandemics to the debate and recognise with concern that increased contact between humans, wildlife and livestock, as a result of human activities including habitat loss, human encroachment into natural areas, land use change such as agricultural expansion, unsustainable food production systems, deforestation, climate change, the legal and illegal wildlife trade, unsustainable international trade and unsustainable consumption is increasing the risk of zoonotic disease emergence and spread. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of close international collaboration in preventing and combatting existing and emerging zoonotic threats. We call for further cross sector research and scientific analysis and evidence on the interactions between humans, wildlife, domesticated animals and the environment, the pathogens which exist in these populations, the risks arising from these interactions and the control and prevention of zoonoses. We call on all governments to ensure transparency and swift sharing of data and information on zoonoses.

As the G7, we will continue to strengthen global collaboration and work towards improving the resilience of our surveillance systems through sharing relevant information in a timely manner, implementing best practice, building capability and improving technology domestically and internationally, particularly with developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

We endorse the work of the One Health Working Group and will join, on a voluntary basis, the International Zoonoses Community of Experts (IZCE) established under the UK Presidency. The IZCE will bring together national points of contact with expertise and interest in zoonoses, their drivers, prevention and monitoring. Through sharing best practice and methodologies, knowledge will be increased across the community and will contribute to improve risk assessment, risk management and early warning capabilities at a global level. We recognise the need to ensure complementarity with such initiatives as the Tripartite Plus and the One Health High Level Expert Panel to avoid duplication. The IZCE will liaise with other relevant G7 working groups, for example the G7 Chief Veterinary Officers Group.

We recognise that better understanding and enhanced visibility, accessibility and interoperability of data is a crucial first step in delivering improved global surveillance and response to One Health threats and issues. We encourage climate, environment and health stakeholders to consider how best they can work together to support the Tripartite Plus in this crucial work.

We recognise that the release of antimicrobials into the environment can select for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and have an impact on human, animal and environmental health. We also note that heavy metals and biocides potentially have an impact on AMR and human, animal and environmental health. We underline the importance of a One Health approach in tackling AMR and call on all governments to promptly implement measures for the sound management and reduction of inappropriate use of antimicrobials. In this context, we note the potential role that soil microorganisms may play in the fight against AMR. We call on UNEP, in collaboration with the Tripartite organisations, to strengthen the evidence base on the contamination, mechanisms, causes and impacts of AMR emerging and spreading in the environment as mandated at UNEA 3. We commit to work in close collaboration with governments and relevant parties such as, medicines regulators where independent of government agriculture, academia, industry, the Tripartite on AMR and UNEP to develop and implement long-term, sustainable solutions to this issue. We note with concern that there are currently no international standards on safe concentrations of antimicrobials released into the environment from, inter alia, pharmaceutical manufacturing, healthcare facility effluent, agriculture and aquaculture. We also acknowledge the work of the AMR Industry Alliance in this regard. We commit to accumulate knowledge on AMR in the environment. We will work with our ministerial colleagues with responsibility for health, food, farming and medicines regulators where independent of government, as appropriate to develop and agree such standards.

Transition to sustainable and legal use of natural resources  

Resource efficiency

Recalling the findings of the Global Resources Outlook 2019 of the International Resource Panel, we recognise that the continued degradation and loss of natural resources threatens our ability to meet our shared commitments to sustainable development, conservation and restoration, food security and combatting climate change. We underline the importance of increasing the resource efficiency and reducing the global environmental footprint of products and moving to more globally sustainable methods and patterns of consumption and production. We reaffirm our commitment to progress actions to increase resource efficiency and transition to a more circular economy, in line with the Bologna Roadmap, to reduce the pressure and adverse impacts on our natural environment, reduce resource use, maximise the value of materials through a life-cycle approach, curb biodiversity loss, and support climate mitigation and adaptation action and in doing so are determined to reduce pollution from all sources. We ask the G7 Alliance for Resource Efficiency to continue technical work on all aspects of the Bologna Roadmap and invite the next G7 Presidency to take stock of its implementation.

Deforestation

We recognise that deforestation, forest degradation and ecosystem conversion are global threats to our climate, biodiversity, food security and livelihoods and are driven by the expansion of agriculture, mining, logging and infrastructure projects. Agricultural expansion is the driver of around 80 percent of global deforestation. A significant proportion of this expansion is linked to the production of agricultural commodities, including particularly those traded internationally. We will increase our support for sustainable supply chains that decouple agricultural production from deforestation and forest degradation, including production stemming from illegal land conversion, and other negative impacts on nature, in accordance with our national legislation, and commit to conserve, sustainably manage, restore and protect forests and other ecosystems. We will do this while promoting development and trade, including through participating in the dialogue between consumer and producer countries under the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) dialogue hosted by the UK as UNFCCC COP26 President, and through work by the International Tropical Timber Organisation. We will work with partners, including the private sector and producer countries, NGOs, as well as Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, to incentivise consumption of commodities that are not associated with deforestation and forest degradation. We will therefore enhance supply chain transparency and traceability, and if appropriate, develop regulatory frameworks or policies, which may include the introduction of due diligence requirements, to bring about trade that is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable, and resilient, in order to achieve a successful green recovery. We look forward to discussions by G7 Trade Ministers on facilitating sustainable supply chains.

We reaffirm our commitment to the New York Declaration on Forests to end natural forest loss and, building on the Bonn Challenge, restore 350 million hectares of forest by 2030. We commit to support measures to strengthen forest governance, transparency, and the rule of law, while also empowering Indigenous Peoples as partners in decision-making as well as local communities. We also support measures that promote sustainable finance and tackle the drivers of forest loss and degradation, including efforts to enhance sustainable production and increasing the incentives for preventing deforestation, protecting intact forests and restoring degraded forests and lands. We recognise the need for enhanced monitoring of deforestation globally, regionally and nationally. 

Illicit threats to nature 

We recognise that the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), trafficking in timber and timber products, hazardous and other wastes, and precious metals, gemstones and other minerals, illegal logging and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing have a devastating impact on our natural environment and livelihoods, with an estimated full global economic value of over US$1 trillion to US$2 trillion per year. These activities drive biodiversity loss, corruption, money laundering, insecurity and other forms of organised criminal activities as well as undermining our efforts to tackle climate change and its impacts. We commit to continue our efforts to strengthen international and transboundary cooperation to tackle these crimes and harmful activities.

We acknowledge that wildlife trafficking is a serious crime, often carried out by transnational organised criminal networks linked to other forms of organised crimes and commit to take urgent and collective action to address this criminal activity in a way that reflects and acknowledges the serious nature of this crime. We remain robustly committed to delivering on our commitments within the 2018 London Declaration and will work to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement authorities and judiciaries in investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating wildlife-related offences where needed. We note proposals to discuss options inter alia to strengthen the international criminal legal framework to effectively combat such offences including prevention, while maintaining our focus on making the best possible use of existing international mechanisms, strengthening legislation, international cooperation, capacity building, criminal justice responses, and law enforcement efforts to strengthen our response. We commit to increase our efforts to reduce the demand for IWT products by developing targeted and evidence-based interventions in order to inform consumer behaviour and close markets where these illegal products are trafficked and sold. We will review our administrative, preventative and criminal justice responses to wildlife and forest crime using the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime’s (ICCWC) Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit. We welcome the discussions by Finance Ministers on strengthening beneficial ownership transparency to better tackle the illicit financial flows stemming from IWT and other illicit threats to nature and welcome the work of the Financial Action Task Force and its recommended actions in this area.

We recognise that IUU fishing remains one of the most serious threats to a healthy ocean, depleting fish stocks, distorting competition, destroying marine habitats and jeopardising international efforts to promote better ocean governance and effectively and sustainably manage fisheries. We recognise the importance of concerted international action to deter IUU fishing, including through support for developing countries. Urgent efforts are needed to prohibit harmful fisheries subsidies that contribute to overfishing, overcapacity and IUU fishing. We commit to concluding the ongoing WTO negotiations as swiftly as possible in order to ensure that a meaningful agreement is reached that delivers effective disciplines.

Building on the outcomes of the Canadian G7 Presidency, we commit to ending IUU fishing by ensuring strong measures are effectively implemented and enforced, such as the Catch Documentation Schemes (CDS) to increase traceability, including those used by RFMOs and other relevant bodies for certain species; a commitment to develop and enforce more robust Port State measures including by effectively implementing the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) and other relevant initiatives, as well as increasing Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) activities to help tackle IUU fishing. We highlight the importance of bilateral agreements that include mechanisms that effectively address IUU fishing, in particular through effective regulation and enhanced monitoring of fisheries activities, transhipments, landings, and trade in fish and fish products. We also commit to the enhanced sharing of information, intelligence, and best practice and expertise in tackling IUU fishing, acknowledging that international cooperation is the most effective way to tackle this issue.

Recognising that illicit threats to nature deprive some of the world’s poorest communities of sustainable forms of living income, we commit to mobilise public and private support for sustainable livelihoods as an alternative to these activities. We recognise the importance of Indigenous Peoples, and local communities, in protecting forests and natural habitats and supporting sustainable land use. We further recognise the importance of securing the legal recognition of the right of Indigenous Peoples to the lands, territories and resources which they owned, occupied, or otherwise used or acquired as acknowledged in national law and international instruments. We also recognise the importance of securing applicable resource and legitimate tenure rights of persons belonging to local (or other) communities, women, and persons in marginalised groups as acknowledged in national law and international instruments. We underline the importance of engagement with these groups to co-develop solutions to these issues, including land tenure rights.

Ocean Action

We recognise that the health of our seas and ocean is critical to the economic, social and environmental well-being of people and the planet, and has a vital role in supporting biodiversity, providing ecosystem services including regulating our climate. Yet the ocean and seas are under significant threat from human actions. Overfishing, IUU fishing, overexploitation of marine habitats and resources, the introduction of invasive alien species, pollution, including marine litter, other anthropogenic pressures on ocean habitats, microplastics, underwater noise are major drivers of marine biodiversity loss. At the same time, climate change is leading to sea level rise, extreme weather events, ocean warming and influences stratification, reduced oxygen levels and shifts in marine resources, which also impact marine biodiversity. Increased carbon dioxide absorption is also leading to increased ocean acidification. We acknowledge with concern the recent high-level findings from the IPCC Report on Climate Change on the Ocean and Cryosphere. Building on the outcomes of the Canadian and other G7 Presidencies, including the Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities, we commit to support the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and work towards its goals, which include the global ocean being clean, healthy and resilient, productive, safe, predicted, accessible and inspiring and engaging. We recognise the value of robust and continuous scientific observation and cooperation to ensure a sustainable ocean for all and to support the science-based implementation of commitments under the 2030 Agenda, SDGs, the CBD, the Paris Agreement and within UNEA resolutions. We will continue our efforts to strengthen the conservation, protection and restoration of coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, salt marshes, polar regions and other ecosystems and we recognise the value of blue carbon ecosystems, which can provide climate resilience benefits while also sequestering carbon. We recognise the importance of sustainable resilience for coastal communities and marine ecosystems and will strengthen our support for the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA).

We commit to upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the ocean and seas must be carried out, including for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and seas. We will work to expeditiously conclude, if possible by the end of 2021, the negotiation of a new and ambitious international legally binding instrument under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction which will include a clear obligation to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity and include a mechanism to establish Area-Based Management Tools (AMBTs), including Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and will aid the implementation of intended new marine targets, recognising our commitment to support global 30by30 for the ocean.

As an example of the kind of action that needs to be taken to protect and conserve the ocean, we fully support the commitment by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to develop a representative system of MPAs in the Convention Area. This should be based on the best available scientific evidence, the proposals to establish MPAs in East Antarctica, in the Weddell Sea and in the Antarctic Peninsula, and taking full consideration of the CCAMLR Convention.

Recognising that marine litter continues to pollute the ocean worldwide, has adverse impacts on marine life through ingestion and entanglement, as well as damaging habitats and people’s livelihoods, and with possible impacts on food safety and human health, we are determined to accelerate action to tackle sources of marine litter, building on national, regional and global efforts, noting the example of the G7 Action Plan to Combat Marine Litter, the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision, and the G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter and the Ocean Plastics Charter as appropriate. We acknowledge that there are a number of key contributors to marine litter, including inadequate management of land-based sources, and abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear, also known as Ghost Gear, which has a significant direct impact on marine life. Effective policies, practices and management measures to address these issues need to be taken nationally, regionally and internationally by all countries, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, including industry and NGOs. Concerning fishing gear loss and its retrieval, we commit to working through relevant international and regional frameworks to address Ghost Gear including by the FAO, IMO, RFMOs and the Regional Seas Conventions and will work with or support other initiatives such as the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI). We will collaborate through concrete actions such as gear marking and retrieval and will support and expand existing efforts to address ghost gear as appropriate, including through the implementation of the UN FAO voluntary guidelines on the marking of fishing gear. We note with interest the contribution to the debate of the OECD report Towards G7 Action to Combat Ghost Fishing Gear, and will carefully consider its recommendations.

Recognising the scale, urgency and transboundary nature of the global action needed to tackle marine plastic litter and microplastics, including by considering a life-cycle approach, we welcome the work of the ad hoc open-ended expert group (AHEG) established by UNEA resolution 3/7 and extended by UNEA resolution 4/6 towards UNEA 5.2, and will fully engage in discussions or negotiations on the options identified, with the aim of taking a step forward on that occasion on suggested options which include strengthening existing instruments, a potential new global instrument, and multi-stakeholder engagement. We look forward to the forthcoming OECD study on existing MDB resources that address marine litter, prepared in cooperation with the G7 Alliance for Resource Efficiency.

We welcome the discussions of the Expanded Future of the Seas and Oceans Working Group and endorse the G7 Ocean Decade Navigation Plan establishing a framework for ambitious and collaborative action under the UN Ocean Decade. This framework will advance the ocean science needed to underpin ocean action, with direct reference to the UN Ocean Decade, its societal outcomes and other international agreements. We commit to work closely with international and regional partners and organisations, including the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, to support the UN Ocean Decade and its societal outcomes. We welcome the ongoing work of the G7 Future of the Seas and Oceans Initiative and will continue to support its programme of activities, including to share best practice, and advance scoping activities such as to develop a digital twin ocean, work towards net zero oceanographic capability, and evaluate global ocean indicator frameworks.

Food Loss and Waste

We recognise that one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, and that food grown but never eaten consumes an estimated 250 km3 of fresh water per year and requires an estimated 1.4 billion hectares land area. Furthermore, food loss and waste produces an estimated 8 percent of global GHGs. We note with concern the recent estimate within UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report 2021 that 931 million tonnes of food waste was generated globally in 2019 at the level of retail, food service and households, which represents 17percent of food available for consumption. We acknowledge the importance of reducing food loss and waste in improving food security, particularly in the most vulnerable communities, mitigating climate change and land degradation and protecting biodiversity. We welcome the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit which will highlight the need to put sustainable food systems at the centre of efforts to meet the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs. We reaffirm our commitment to achieve SDG 12.3 and commit to utilise a “Target, Measure, Act” approach and establish national targets to reach that goal.

We further commit to measure food loss and waste in accordance with the transparent methodologies outlined in the Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard and consistent with the requirements of international reporting under SDG 12.3. We will establish national baselines and goals against which progress can be measured. We will implement actions to support food supply chains and households to reduce food loss and waste and promote the adoption of sustainable food consumption and production through circular economy and resource efficiency approaches. Our actions will include encouraging collaboration and cooperation between public, private and civil society actors, the adoption of innovative business models and technologies, redistribution of surplus food, the promotion of youth and wider public education and behaviour change programmes across all sectors on food loss and waste prevention. Food no longer intended for human consumption should be prevented from becoming waste through use as animal feed or reprocessing into new products, whilst ensuring that all safety and related requirements are met. Recalling our commitments under the Bologna Roadmap, and recognising that approximately 60 percent of global food waste occurs in households, we welcome the discussions of the G7 Alliance for Resource Efficiency on key components that support action to reduce food waste at the household level, and the Presidency Summary of the discussion. We further welcome the G7 Alliance for Resource Efficiency document highlighting examples of best practice across the G7 to address this issue.

Conclusion 

We express our appreciation to the Formal G7 Engagement Groups and other partners for their important contributions to the UK’s G7 Presidency. We look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts on these and other issues under the German G7 Presidency in 2022.