On May 21, 2021 we received a Communiqué from the G7 Environment Ministers.  We think this is worth sharing with a broader audience.  The highlights below were kindly provided by our colleague Stephen Woodley.

“…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 stress our determination to put climate, biodiversity, and the environment at the heart of our COVID-19 recovery strategies and investments. “

“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 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 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 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.”