G7 leaders are expected to agree plans today [Sunday] to
transform the financing of infrastructure projects in developing
countries, part of a raft of measures at the Summit to address
the climate crisis and protect nature.
The ‘Build Back Better for the World’ plan will bring together G7
countries under the UK’s presidency to develop an offer for
high-quality financing for vital infrastructure, from railways in
Africa to wind farms in Asia.
The new approach is intended to give developing countries access
to more, better and faster finance, while accelerating the global
shift to renewable energy and sustainable technology. The
Government will build on this with other countries ahead of the
COP26 Summit in November.
The Prime Minister has also launched the UK’s Blue Planet Fund
from the G7 Summit’s ocean-side setting in Cornwall. The £500
million fund will support countries including Ghana, Indonesia
and Pacific island states to tackle unsustainable fishing,
protect and restore coastal ecosystems like mangroves and coral
reefs, and reduce marine pollution.
The G7 will endorse a Nature Compact at this afternoon’s meeting
to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 – including
supporting the global target to conserve or protect at least 30
percent of land and 30 percent of ocean globally by the end of
the decade.
Prime Minister said:
“Protecting our planet is the most important thing we as leaders
can do for our people. There is a direct relationship between
reducing emissions, restoring nature, creating jobs and ensuring
long-term economic growth.
“As democratic nations we have a responsibility to help
developing countries reap the benefits of clean growth through a
fair and transparent system. The G7 has an unprecedented
opportunity to drive a global Green Industrial Revolution, with
the potential to transform the way we live.”
The G7 are also expected to commit to almost halve their
emissions by 2030 relative to 2010. The UK is already going even
further, pledging to cut emissions by at least 68% by 2030 on
1990 levels (58% reduction on 2010 levels).
Leaders will set out the action they will take to slash carbon
emissions, including measures like ending all unabated coal as
soon as possible, ending almost all direct government support for
the fossil fuel energy sector overseas and phasing out petrol and
diesel cars.
Sir David Attenborough, renowned British environmentalist and the
UK’s COP26 People’s Champion, will address the leaders of the G7
countries plus guests Australia, India, South Korea and South
Africa at a session on Climate and Nature later today and urge
them to take action as the world’s leading economies to secure
the future of our planet.
Sir David Attenborough, Environmentalist and COP26
People’s Champion, said:
“The natural world today is greatly diminished. That is
undeniable. Our climate is warming fast. That is beyond doubt.
Our societies and nations are unequal and that is sadly is plain
to see
“But the question science forces us to address specifically in
2021 is whether as a result of these intertwined facts we are on
the verge of destabilising the entire planet?
“If that is so, then the decisions we make this decade - in
particular the decisions made by the most economically advanced
nations - are the most important in human history.”
In addition to taking action at home, G7 leaders will commit to
increase their contributions to international climate finance to
meet the target of mobilising $100bn a year, which will help
developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change and
support sustainable, green growth.
This is the first-ever net-zero G7, with all countries having
committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest with
ambitious reductions targets in the 2020s. The Leaders’ Summit is
an important stepping-stone on the road to COP26, which the UK
will host in Glasgow in November.
Notes to Editors:
- Unabated coal power generation refers to the use of coal that
isn’t mitigated with technologies to reduce the CO2 emissions,
such as Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)
- The UK was one of the first countries to commit to ending
unabated coal generation, with a target of 2025 – we have
recently concluded a consultation on bringing this forward to 1
October 2024.
- The Blue Planet Fund will run for at least five years,
beginning in 2021.
- The Nature Compact demonstrates action across G7 governments,
from agreements on a ‘nature positive’ economy, tackling
deforestation through ‘greening’ supply chains and addressing the
illegal wildlife trade.
- Developed countries have committed to jointly mobilise $100bn
of climate finance a year by 2020, through to 2025, from a range
of public and private sources. The UK has led by example by
doubling our own climate finance from 2021-2025 to £11.6bn.
- The leaders of the UK, Canada, France, Germany Italy, Japan,
the US alongside Australia, India, South Africa and South Korea
will meet for the third and final day of the G7 Leaders Summit in
Carbis Bay, Cornwall on Sunday
