Inequalities and inclusivity in transitioning towards a green future

Determined to do our part in tackling global challenges, we reaffirm our commitment to the 2030 Agenda and continue to support the implementation of its environmental dimension in an integrated manner to foster transitions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, so as to enable inclusive transitioning towards a green future that leaves no one behind.
These transitions present many opportunities to achieve social objectives, foster a sustainable and inclusive society and contribute to better living conditions for all, for today and in future generations. Such actions have the potential to spur economic growth and innovation, including the development of environmentally sound technologies, and to create decent jobs contributing significantly to social inclusion. We acknowledge the economic opportunities inherent in good environmental stewardship. We recognize that harnessing this potential requires that special care be given to the impacts on the workforce of transitioning towards a green future. Transitioning towards a green future can create economic challenges, which must be addressed, including through retraining and reskilling workers.
We recognize the interlinkages between environmental protection, economic growth and inequalities. We acknowledge that the poorest depend disproportionately on biodiversity and ecosystem services. We further recognize that environmental degradation, natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, and other external factors that are projected to be aggravated by climate change, disproportionately affect the poorest and the most vulnerable. We also emphasize the importance of a continued inclusive dialogue among generations on all environmental issues.
We recognize the vulnerability of women and girls to climate change and environmental degradation, as well as their vital role in environmental management and in catalysing sustainability. We reiterate our commitment to empowering women and girls and our support for the UNFCCC, UNCCD and CBD Gender Action Plans.
We emphasize the need to address the different ways in which climate change and environmental degradation affect territories, oceans and seas, activities and people. Taking into account inequalities is the key to addressing environmental challenges in inclusive societies. We will work towards addressing inequalities around the globe, such as energy poverty, food security and nutrition, availability of natural resources. We will increase the economic co-benefits for households and communities through improved energy and resource efficiency and sustainably managed ecosystem services.
We underline the importance of involving all stakeholders in decision-making processes related to environment, such as citizens, sub-national authorities, businesses, small and medium-sized companies, the financial sector, trade unions, academia and scientists, NGOs, Indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth and other relevant groups.
We recognize the strong and compelling need for action to build resilience and empower vulnerable countries and communities, including through investing in nature-based solutions and sustainable infrastructure, and facilitating timely and efficient access to transparent and sustainable finance and investment opportunities.
We commit to enhancing the multiple values and benefits that biodiversity and healthy ecosystems provide to all, especially the most vulnerable and the poor, and the importance of leveraging the co-benefits of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use for economic development, poverty reduction and the fight against inequalities
Taking into account that global solid waste generation has doubled in the last decade and is expected to increase by at least 70% by 2050, we recognize that, in many cities, the informal waste management sector provides jobs and subsistence income to many. We commit to working on inclusive transitions to sustainable waste management. We invite international institutions, including financial institutions, to pay due attention to the integration of the informal sector in their projects related to sustainable waste management and share their experiences in that regard.

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The role of science and research

We recognize the importance of a scientifically sound evidence base for awareness-raising, informed policy formulation and decision-making in the context of sustainable development. Though actions must also be undertaken on the basis of the knowledge already at hand, the world needs further knowledge, science and research, as well as open, freely accessible and interoperable data, to better inform and guide what needs to be done to achieve sustainability across all environmental dimensions. We underline the major role of science and research in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and in informing the development of future objectives for sustainable development. Science and research can also support the development of integrated approaches by providing the necessary knowledge to take into account the diversity of situations, uncertainties and the complex causal linkages across different environmental and non-environmental components. We thus invite the scientific communities and governments of the G7, to strengthen the research efforts needed on all environmental issues of global significance in a collaborative and integrated way.
We stress the importance of a close cooperation between scientific communities and the private sector as a driving force for sustainable development. Future-oriented policies for sustainability must rely on innovation and business models that lessen the environmental impact, especially of highly polluting sectors, while providing better goods and services for the growing population of the world.
The contributions of science-policy platforms and other relevant organizations such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the International Resource Panel (IRP), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), strengthen the science-policy interface on the environment including by providing reliable assessments of the state of knowledge in response to the requests of policy makers and build capacity to use science effectively in decision-making at all levels.
We welcome the Global Environment Outlook 6 published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that provides a sound, evidence-based source of environmental information at the national, regional and global levels to help policymakers and all of society to achieve environmentally sound decision making and to enhance the capacity with respect to responding to the environment dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and relevant environmental goals. GEO-6 notably shows that environmental issues are best addressed in conjunction with related economic and social issues, taking into account synergies and trade-offs between different goals and targets, including consideration of equality.
We welcome the "2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services" by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
We also welcome the contributions of the IRP and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to deepening the knowledge on the economic and environmental impacts of resource efficiency. We invite these organizations to strengthen knowledge on the full range of impacts from these approaches, as well as their benefits at national and international level, and to further collate and analyse relevant information and develop the knowledge base to help policy makers to design and manage resource efficient and circular economy policies in an inclusive way, including to inform decision making on integrated, innovative resource and energy solutions.
We note the contributions of the Global Resources Outlook 2019, "Natural Resources for the Future We Want" (GRO 2019) by the IRP, to the resource efficiency agenda, and note its findings, which show, inter alia, current trend of exploitation of natural resources and its impact on the environment, highlighting that resource extraction and processing of materials, fuels, and food accounts for more than 90 % of global biodiversity and water stress impacts and more than half of the greenhouse gas emissions (disregarding climate impacts related to land use). We invite the IRP to continue its work on value retention processes (remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair and direct reuse) that support resource efficiency as a contribution to the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency's planned work on value retention, notably by addressing their potential in the consumer goods sector. We welcome the forthcoming workshop under the G7 French Presidency that will contribute to this particular area of the 5-year Bologna Roadmap.
We acknowledge the efforts underway on the Global Waste Management Outlook II and on UNEP's report, prepared for consideration by the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, on the environmental and health impacts of pesticides and fertilizers and ways of minimizing them. Highlighting the need to improve our knowledge on the impacts of chemicals and waste on the environment and people, notably the combined or cumulative effects and emerging risks as described in the Global Chemicals Outlook II, we will consider ways of strengthening the science-policy interface regarding the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020 during the intersessional process towards the fifth meeting of the International Conference on Chemicals Management.
We acknowledge the conclusions of the G7 Scientific Advice Cooperation on Microplastics Pollution Roundtable held in Washington (February 13th, 2019). Microplastic pollution is a global phenomenon. There is a need to better understand microplastics (including nanoplastic) where they are in the environment, how they degrade and move through the environment, and what the impacts may be, including on humans. A starting point is international dialog to standardize and harmonize sampling and quantifying protocols. Aware that data on microplastics pollution are unevenly distributed and available, we invite the scientific community to facilitate access to standardized and harmonized data, and support further toxicological and ecotoxicological assessments. We also invite the scientific community, including social and behavioral sciences, to help us design better policies to reverse the global trend of increasing plastic waste releases in the environment. We welcome the Japanese initiative to launch the "Project of Harmonization of Marine Microplastics Monitoring Methodologies" for standardizing and harmonizing monitoring methodologies for microplastics. We further welcome the French offer to host, under its G7 Presidency, a scientific workshop dedicated to the standardization and harmonization of microplastics monitoring, including biomonitoring, and the potential contribution of behavioural sciences to designing strategies to reduce microplastics and plastic pollution.

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International mobilization and leadership for biodiversity

Aware of our key role and responsibility in enhancing the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the life-sustaining goods and services it provides, deeply concerned by its continued loss worldwide and informed by the outcome of the IPBES 2019 Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem services and its previous thematic and regional assessments, we recognize the need for transformative action, commensurate with the scale of the global biodiversity challenge, and are resolved to take our part in it.
We adopt the G7 Metz Charter on biodiversity and invite all relevant actors to join us in this endeavour. Pursuant to this Charter, we will strengthen and improve our current biodiversity strategies, policies, action plans and research programs, increasing the level of implementation of the commitments and actions therein, and take new, ambitious and achievable commitments for swift action on biodiversity, either individually or jointly. We will implement these strategies, policies, programmes and action plans as well as commitments, review them and, as necessary, update them, so that they are commensurate with the challenges we face. We are also committed to reach out to other actors and stakeholders, including all relevant organizations, Indigenous peoples, local communities, sub-national governments and authorities, academia, women's and youth groups, the business, financial and economic sectors, and non-governmental organizations, to support and complement our efforts with commitments of their own. Such commitments could form part of the "Sharm El-Sheikh to Kunming Action Agenda for Nature and People".
We stress the vital importance of developing and implementing a robust post-2020 global biodiversity framework. It should have a strong level of ambition and practicality, in order to facilitate the transformational changes needed to achieve the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity. It should build on the lessons learned from the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets, as well as on the best available science and knowledge, and it should be aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Our commitments will be presented where possible in the appropriate forthcoming international fora prior to the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (China, October 2020) with a view to accelerate practical action on biodiversity. We welcome high level international discussions to accelerate action on biodiversity, and in this regard we note the outcomes of the Montreal Nature Champions Summit, including its "Call to Action" which highlights, amongst other elements,the need to unite nature conservation objectives with addressing climate change, to embrace nature-based decision-making in all key political, economic, cultural and social decision, and address the key drivers of nature loss across the world, together with a wide range of actors.

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International mobilization for climate

We recognize climate change and environmental degradation as complex and pressing global challenges. We recognize the role that reducing emissions and building resilience play in addressing these issues. We welcome the outcomes of COP24, including the Katowice rulebook and the completion of the Talanoa dialogue, which was a stocktaking milestone. We remain committed to reaching decisions at COP 25 related to cooperative approaches that ensure environmental integrity, including the avoidance of double counting. We look forward to effective outcomes at the UN Climate Change Conference in Santiago de Chile. We recognize the role of the IPCC in providing scientific input to inform countries in strengthening the global response to climate change.
The G7 members that are committed to the swift and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement reaffirm its irreversibility, as the essential multilateral framework to address climate change. They note with concern the findings contained in the special report of the IPCC on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C that shows that the world is not moving fast enough to prevent irreversible and catastrophic climate disruption. They welcome the initiative of the UN Secretary-General to host a Climate Summit in September 2019, as an important opportunity to demonstrate enhanced collective climate ambition on both mitigation and resilience. In this regard, they reiterate their determination to, by 2020, submit long term low GHG emission development strategies and communicate or update nationally determined contributions (NDCs), taking into account the collective further efforts needed by all Parties. They will strive for achievement of a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in line with the Paris Agreement. They reiterate their support to the Global Climate Action Agenda. They reconfirm the commitment to implement their part in mobilizing finance for supporting climate action in developing countries, as decided at COP21 in Paris. They will work towards a successful replenishment of the Green Climate Fund. They acknowledge that further steps are needed to align financial support from Multilateral Development Banks to the path which leads to the full implementation of the Paris agreement and refrain from investment in high carbon assets.
The United States reiterates its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and reaffirms its strong commitment to promoting economic growth, energy security and access, and environmental protection. The United States confirms that its balanced approach to energy and environment allows for the delivery of affordable, reliable, and secure energy to its citizens while utilizing all energy sources and technologies, including clean and advanced fossil fuels and technologies, renewables, and civil nuclear power, while also reducing emissions and promoting economic growth. The United States reaffirms its commitment to re-examine comprehensive modelling that best reflects the actual state of climate science in order to inform its policy-making decisions, including comparing actual monitored climate data against the modelled climate trajectories on an on-going basis. (US) The United States states that its energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 14% between 2005 and 2017 even as its economy grew by 19.4% largely due to the development and deployment of innovative energy technologies. The United States reaffirms its commitment to the development and deployment of advanced technologies to continue to reduce emissions and will continue to work with other countries to adapt to climate change, and to respond to natural disasters, while understanding that each country will pursue its own course.

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Concrete solutions for the environment and their co-benefits

Under its 2019 G7 Presidency, France has focussed on the relationship between the domestic and international climate and sustainable development efforts. We will seek interlinkages and synergies, and avoid negative unintended consequences in comprehensively addressing challenges, including climate change, energy security, economic growth, biodiversity loss and climate resilience as well as inequalities, food security and nutrition, sustainable consumption and production. We will encourage the deployment of nature-based solutions, including ecosystem-based adaptation and ecosystem- based disaster risk reduction that contribute to multiple sustainable development goals simultaneously and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
We highlight the important role of all levels of government and non-state actors such as businesses, Indigenous peoples, local communities, civil society, academia, non-governmental organisations, multilateral development banks and international financial institutions, international organizations, and others. We recognize the benefits of collaborative partnerships and action alliances in driving action in all sectors.
In the spirit of addressing inequalities and eradicating poverty, we emphasize that sustainable economic growth and development depend also on energy efficiency and universal access to clean, affordable, efficient, reliable, sustainable and modern energy resources. We will continue to engage partner countries around the world to reduce emissions, to continue to adapt to climate change, and to respond to natural disasters.
We welcome progress made by Multilateral Development Banks and other development finance institutions and take note of their announcements in support of countries' efforts to meet their national environment and climate sustainability goals. Furthermore, we acknowledge actions and initiatives taken by Multilateral Development Banks and other development finance institutions, to foster mobilization of public and private finance for environment and climate sustainability, within their respective mandates.

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Oceans

Recalling the Canadian G7 outcomes on healthy oceans, Seas and Resilient coastal Communities, we recognize that the oceans are under threat, that the life, survival and well-being of humankind relies on the health and sustainable use of oceans, and that marine ecosystems provide innumerable goods and services.
We are committed to improving and sharing the latest state-of-the art knowledge of the ecological state of the oceans, to boosting ocean awareness and literacy, and to ensure that existing and any new anthropogenic pressures are reduced and do not threaten the health of the oceans. In this respect, we welcome the G7 Initiative on Earth Observation and Integrated Coastal Zone Management and the work by the G7 Future of the Seas and Oceans Working Group and its efforts to establish an Ocean Observation Coordination Centre to strengthen collaboration, including with the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). We invite the Working Group to support preparations and activities under the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) – "the ocean we need for the future we want!", which aims to gather stakeholders worldwide behind a common framework that will ensure ocean science can fully support countries in creating improved conditions for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources.
We will continue promoting better ocean governance, including in the high seas, and in this regard welcome the negotiations taking place at the United Nations with regard to the development of an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. We continue to take measures for the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources and restoration of biodiversity including sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, reinforcing the resilience of coasts and coastal communities, and addressing marine litter, including by significantly reducing land-based pollution and the amount of plastic waste discharged to the ocean on a global basis. We will continue strengthening the conservation/protection of coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds and other ecosystems.
We recognize that the ocean warrants special attention in the discussions related to climate change, including the impacts of ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation on marine ecosystems, and on coastal communities and infrastructures. We are looking forward to considering the forthcoming special IPCC report on the Ocean and the Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

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Resource and Energy Efficiency

We stress that resource efficiency policies are a key part of a sustainable, low emission global economy that conserves, restores, and sustainably uses natural resources, while offering economic opportunities such as competitiveness, secure supply, innovation, economic growth and job creation. We emphasize the essential role played by companies, and we are aware of the important challenges they are facing in order to use natural resources in a sustainable, efficient and circular way, and retain them longer in the economy, in the context of increasingly interlinked value chains. We thus aim to ensure that appropriate measures, approaches and partnerships are in place for promoting resource efficiency to the private sector and society at large.
We acknowledge the range of the potential positive benefits of resource efficiency activities, including climate benefits. We look forward to the results of the International Resource Panel study as a contribution to the workstream under the 5-year Bologna Roadmap on "the potential GHG reductions of resource efficiency policies with the aim of pursuing co-benefits by identifying the most resource efficient measures in regard to their GHG abatement potential".
We welcome the G7 French Presidency's Resource Efficiency Workshop and note the key messages document[1]) emerging from the workshop on "Tools making value chains more circular and resource efficient - voluntary agreements, standardization and non-financial reporting", which was held in March 20th-21st 2019. We will continue to consider and where appropriate promote the use by companies and investors of these tools as effective ways to make value chain more circular and more resource- efficient with the goal of reducing life cycle environmental impacts.
We invite standardisation institutions in coordination with experts on resource efficiency and circular economy to actively integrate resource efficiency and circular economy issues in their standardisation activities, taking into account applicable life-cycle approaches. We invite relevant stakeholders to work with the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency to contribute to the development of comparable metrics, reporting protocols, and related environmental accounting principles for value chains resource efficiency and circularity to reduce the burden associated with different and divergent reporting frameworks.
We strongly urge continued dialogue of sharing and promoting best practices together with the active participation of business and relevant stakeholders, and recognize the role of the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency and the G20 Resource Efficiency Dialogue in that respect. We reaffirm our commitment to implement the Toyama Framework on Material Cycles and the 5-year Bologna Roadmap as frameworks on resource efficiency. We also welcome progress of G7 members, including follow-up activities, in advancing actions towards resource efficient development based on the Toyama Framework on Material Cycles and the 5-year Bologna Roadmap.
We will promote highly efficient technologies, including renewable energies, as well as the best standards and policies to increase energy efficiency. We stress that some of these technologies are already available at a competitive and affordable price and that energy efficiency can provide significant cost savings. We recognize the importance of enhancing energy efficiency in the cooling sector which is expected to grow significantly in the coming years being aware of the ongoing shift of refrigerants. Energy efficiency is key for energy security and competitiveness of our economies, and innovative approaches should be developed to leverage the untapped potential of energy efficiency.

[1] https://www.ecologique-solidaire.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/G7%20workshop%20-%20Key%20messages.pdf ↩

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Concrete solutions for biodiversity and their co-benefits

In order to fight biodiversity loss, we commit to taking action, including practical, concrete measures against the critical anthropogenic pressures which are threatening ecosystems, species, populations, and genetic diversity. The critical pressures on biodiversity include habitat change, loss and degradation (including from land take, deforestation and forest degradation, unsustainable agricultural, forestry and fisheries practices), the spread of invasive alien species, terrestrial and marine pollution (including by microplastics and nutrients), overexploitation of natural resources (including overfishing, illegal logging, poaching and illegal trade in wildlife) and climate change. There is evidence to suggest that changing climate conditions will exacerbate biodiversity loss in the future, especially in degraded ecosystems.
With respect to the integrity of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, we recognize the utmost importance of ecologically representative and well-connected protected areas, increasing coverage and improving their management as necessary, and of fighting deforestation, ecosystem degradation and desertification. We also recognize that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity requires action on the ground. This includes both across landscapes (aiming at sustainable agriculture and at sustainable forest, soil and land management, including the reduction of the rate of urban sprawl, the integration of nature into cities, the revitalization of brownfields and the restoration of degraded lands into a natural state, and seascapes (aiming at sustainable fisheries and sustainable ocean management including maritime spatial planning). We also stress the importance of ecosystem restoration and welcome the adoption of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) by the United Nations General Assembly.
We encourage a collaborative approach to improve sustainable soil management, involving all relevant stakeholders and linking existing initiatives, such as inter alia the Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the 4per1000 initiative, the initiative for the adaptation of agriculture in Africa (AAA), and the African Adaptation Initiative (AAI). We also recognize the importance of UNCCD and partners work in addressing desertification, land degradation and drought and achieving land degradation neutrality in support of the SDGs, including through the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund, and through our support of the Global Environment Facility. We encourage the further mobilization of resources for concrete actions and partnerships for sustainable soil management and soil restoration.
We will foster more sustainable and healthy food systems in economic, environmental and social terms, also recognizing the benefits of reducing food loss and waste. We will encourage integrated approaches at production, ecosystem and landscape levels that conserve and restore soils, seascapes, marine ecosystems and biodiversity for food and agriculture as well as associated ecosystem services, while improving livelihoods, enhancing food production, preventing natural disasters and supporting economic performance and environmental health. In this perspective, we welcome "The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture" published by the FAO, and the "Voluntary Guidelines for Soil Sustainable Management" adopted by the FAO, and acknowledge initiatives to conserve and develop productive landscapes and seascapes to benefit people and the environment. We also encourage public and private actors to support information-sharing and dialogue, and where needed, capacity-building, to understand and address their role in global deforestation, including deforestation related to agricultural production.
With respect to the over-exploitation and/or illegal exploitation of forests, arable land, grassland, oceans, coastal and freshwater ecosystems, we will continue to implement policies targeting the conservation and restoration of ecosystems, in particular tropical forests, and the sustainable use of resources. In cooperation with those countries most concerned, we will strengthen the fight against crimes such as wildlife trafficking, illegal logging and associated trade, and crimes associated with illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. We commend the proposals made by the G7 Security Ministers to fight against environmental crime and are committed to contribute to their implementation.
Air pollution is the single greatest environmental risk to human health and one of the main avoidable causes of death and disease globally, with some estimated 6.5 million premature deaths across the world attributed to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Air pollution is also a serious threat to biodiversity particularly through sulphur and nitrogen emissions, and ground-level ozone. We are committed to taking action across sectors to reduce all forms of air pollution, notably through monitoring systems, ambient air quality standards, policies preventing and reducing emission at source, internalizing the costs of pollution, and integrating air pollution management aspects in national development agendas. Promoting innovation, research and development and public-private partnerships in lower-emissions technologies and disseminating of best available technologies will also help to achieve a future with reduced air pollution and improved human health outcomes. We encourage relevant actors to develop and bring to scale innovative technologies from basic R&D to competitive market deployment. We recognize the importance of addressing air pollution, including particulate matter, from ships at the international level, and take note of the work done by relevant international organizations on marine discharges from ship's exhaust gas cleaning systems and welcome continued work in these areas.
We underline the importance, for human and environmental health, and biodiversity, of avoiding and minimizing the risks posed by hazardous chemicals in products and materials, ensuring their safe use throughout their life cycle, including their environmentally sound reuse, recycling and other recovery, or disposal. The future international framework for the management of chemicals and waste is under consideration in the 'Beyond 2020' process spearheaded by the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management. Supporting SDGs, we aim to achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle. We now have a unique opportunity to go further and show joint leadership in advancing and strengthening our efforts to act on chemicals and waste at all levels, including by substantially reducing waste generation through prevention and through reuse and recycling, and thus supporting a successful outcome of the 5th International Conference on Chemicals Management.
In the context of a projected significant rise in plastic consumption, we recognize the need for action through innovative approaches in collaboration with the private sector towards significantly reducing discharges of plastic litter and microplastics into the oceans through a lifecycle approach, including design, production, consumption, end-of-life management and disposal of plastics. We will address the damage to our ecosystems caused by the unsustainable use and disposal of plastic products, including by taking comprehensive action in regard to single-use plastic products and microplastics and we will work with the private sector and scientific communities to find affordable and environmentally friendly alternatives. We recognize the importance of agreement reached at the United Nations Environment Assembly in promoting efforts at all levels and steering global action. We are committed to pursue and strengthen actions and commitments previously agreed by all G7 members, including the G7 Innovation Challenge to Address Marine Plastic Litter. We welcome the many contributions to the Innovation Challenge presented by non-state-actors at the 2019 G7 Environment Ministers' Meeting, and look forward towards successful outcomes at the G20. We note the importance of driving action on combating marine plastic litter and involving relevant stakeholders such as local government, business, and civil society, noting the example of the Ocean Plastic Charter in this context.
We recognize that waste prevention is an essential element to limit plastic pollution. We believe that increased public awareness offers opportunities for innovation and drives behavioural changes, which present important source reduction and improved waste management opportunities. We will promote resource efficiency and circular economy approaches, and foster innovation in reducing plastic waste. We will strive to ensure the improvement of market conditions for secondary plastic resources. We also recognize the need to increase public and industry awareness to reduce littering and accelerate transition to more sustainable alternatives.

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Sustainable finance and biodiversity

We note the OECD analytical report on "Biodiversity: Finance and the Economic and Business Case for Action" as part of the global efforts to understand and promote these issues. We invite the OECD to continue its work, within its existing mandate, and to work with others to complete a comprehensive overview of global biodiversity finance, measures for mainstreaming biodiversity concerns into economic sectors, and indicators that could be relevant for the development of the post-2020 framework.
We underline the importance of supporting finance flows that are more consistent with our environmental goals including for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. We recognize the importance of effective policies, economic instruments, institutions and enabling conditions in providing the correct incentives to society and in providing financial resources that should be directed to effective action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. We note the under-utilization of economic instruments in relation to biodiversity and the need for further examining opportunities for their use. We recognize the need to work to reform systems that are harmful to biodiversity. We endeavour to support the mobilization of resources from all sources, including the private sector. To this end we welcome the establishment of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), which will build resilience and enable adaptation by bringing together public and private sector actors to expand knowledge and drive investment, including in nature-based solutions.
We note the "Into the wild: integrating nature into investment strategies" report by WWF France and AXA exploring aspects of financial risk analysis associated with biodiversity loss, including "physical risks" (e.g. linked to supply shortages), "transition risks" (e.g. related to industrial or commercial developments), and "reputational risks". We will share these reports with Finance Ministers and examine further their results, as appropriate. We recognize the work business and financial institutions are carrying out to use and expand existing tools to measure and report the impacts of their business activities and portfolio of assets on biodiversity, to assess the risks and opportunities associated with them, and to change their business and investment practices accordingly. We highlight the potential for economic opportunities for business and financial actors of engaging on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and recognize potential economic impacts associated with biodiversity loss. To this end, we look forward to the review on the economics of biodiversity recently announced by the United Kingdom.
We will continue to work with stakeholders to strengthen incentives for action on biodiversity. We will continue to promote the mainstreaming of biodiversity across and within economic sectors, including agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, energy and mining, infrastructure, manufacturing and processing sectors. We will also encourage ocean-related investments to deliver long-term value without having a negative impact on marine ecosystems. In this context, we note the world's first global framework to finance a sustainable ocean economy launched in Bali in October 2018. We will continue to promote the implementation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and encourage the use of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct among business, and continue to collaborate with businesses to use this guidance to identify, prevent and address adverse impacts on biodiversity and in a spirit of transparency, publicly report on these efforts and their outcomes. We note the conclusion of the OECD report referred to in paragraph 49 on developing a set of practical actions on due diligence and biodiversity to support efforts by business.

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Source: The Official Website of the 2019 French Presidency of the G7

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	Please send comments to: g7@utoronto.ca This page was last updated May 10, 2019.