G7 pledges to lead COP21 implementation

The G7 has pledged to conserve natural resources and prevent further global warming between now and 2020. 

This was the first inter-governmental meeting on the environment since 175 countries signed the Paris agreement on climate change in New York last month.

The G7 consists of Germany, France, Italy, the UK, the US, Canada, and Japan. 

G7’s Environment Ministers issued a joint statement agreeing to implement the Paris Agreement on climate change and support efforts to create long-term strategies to prevent global warming before the 2020 deadline. 

Japan’s Environment Minister Tamayo Marukawa said the G7 will head climate change response efforts. The Ministers have pledged to work out climate change strategies and submit them to the UN as soon as possible.

They agreed that carbon taxation is an effective way to speed up reforms and increase investment in low-carbon technology. 

As the population density of urban areas has increased, the G7 have underscored the role of each city in dealing with its own environmental issues and urged governments to help their cities learn from successful models.

The G7 Environment Ministers approved measures to support resource conservation including recycling waste produced by natural disasters, based on the Toyama Framework on Material Cycles.

The Environment Ministers’ meeting was a follow-up to the joint statement on climate change issued at the G7 summit last June, committing to the goal of a long-term low-carbon economy, adoption of advanced energy technologies by 2050, and subsidies for abandoning fossil fuels.

At the coming G7 summit in Japan later this month, climate change and energy will be the main topics. G7 countries expect to issue a joint statement on a long-term strategy to fight global warming before 2020.

The G7’s consensus on climate change will be an important factor in clearing obstacles to implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change.