The G7 Environment, Climate and Energy Ministers met in Sapporo, Japan on April 15-16, 2023. The French ministers, Christophe Béchu and Agnès Pannier-Runacher, participated in this joint meeting, during which the G7 members strengthened their coordination to fight the triple global crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
In a communiqué adopted at the end of the meeting, the ministers expressed their willingness to act on the major environmental, climate and energy challenges of our time, consolidating recent achievements and providing clear perspectives for future multilateral negotiations.
The G7 commits to implementing the agreements reached
The ministerial communiqué highlights the landmark agreements reached on the Kunming Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in December and the “BBNJ” treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of high seas biodiversity.
The G7 commits to facilitate the operationalization of the GBF and to rapidly revise their national biodiversity strategies in preparation for COP16 of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2024. The G7 also calls for the rapid entry into force of the BBNJ agreement and to strengthen measures to prevent and combat deforestation and environmental crime.The ministers also commit to prevent and combat chemical pollution caused by per and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS), to end plastic pollution through a comprehensive approach and concrete measures, and to achieve an ambitious treaty on plastic pollution by the end of 2024.
France, a major role within the G7 for the protection of the environment
To give concrete expression to these commitments, Christophe Béchu has extended an invitation to all his G7 counterparts to participate in a high-level event in Paris for the opening of the next negotiation session of the international treaty on plastic pollution. Finally, the G7 welcomes all of France’s contributions throughout the negotiations.
