G7 and Climate Change: What do you need to know?

Author
Nina Skubala
Head of Climate Strategy | Business West
10th June 2021

World leaders are descending on the South West to meet at Carbis Bay, Cornwall this week (11-13 June) as part of the G7 Summit. The climate crisis is a key theme for policymakers going into the event. What will this mean for business and the region? Here is what you need to know.

What is the G7 Summit?

The G7 Summit was set up in 1973 and brings together the world’s seven largest economies - United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan. It now acts as an annual event where these economies can discuss the world’s most serious societal and environmental challenges.

The UK has taken up the presidency of the organisation, and will be the host this year. This year’s summit will see the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson meet with US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron.

A selection of non-member representatives are also invited. These include the European Council’s President Charles Michel, the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

While this annual summit cannot officially pass any laws, it can create agreements around tackling key megatrends.

Will climate change be discussed?

Climate change is set to be one of the focus points of the Summit, alongside efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to legislate a new target to reduce national emissions by 78% by 2035, including emissions from international shipping and aviation, following the Climate Change Committee's advice on the Sixth Carbon Budget. 

It is believed that the UK will press other nations to set raised climate targets as part of the build-up to COP26, which takes place in Glasgow in November this year.

Other areas that are likely to be discussed are:

  • carbon border tariffs 
  • mobilising climate funding 
  • mandating climate reporting
  • combating climate crisis in low income countries

What does business want from the summit?

Last week, more than 200 members from Chambers of Commerce Groups from the G7 nations attended the C7 Conference to explore the Green and Blue Recovery. It was organised by the South West Chamber of Commerce (which includes Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, Devon Chamber of Commerce, Somerset Chamber of Commerce, Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Business West Chamber of Commerce) and chaired by Dr Adam Marshal who recently stepped down as Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce. 

Emerging from the conference were 5 asks for the PM:

  1. Show businesses a path to a more sustainable future. Guide business to understand the steps needed. Business can help provide the solutions as long as they understand the route needed.
  2. Balance regulation with incentive. There is a role for commitments and target setting for both government and business, but there must be a combination of carrot and stick, incentivising and helping businesses to take the necessary steps. Business needs support, especially as it reels from the impact of the pandemic and adjusts to post-Brexit international trade, so there should be no additional cost burden imposed upon it. 
  3. Show leadership. Be strong and bold, working closely with like-minded partners who share our values and holding to account those countries that do not. Show solidarity with our G7 partners with a consistent approach to fossil fuels and waste management and reach out to help other countries work towards our goals. Work in partnership with businesses across every sector to help drive us all towards sustainable solutions. 
  4. Be fair and free. People and businesses deserve a level playing field that gives opportunity to all. Ensure that the poor are not excluded by digital poverty and make sure that international corporations pay the same tax as local businesses. If 100 Corporations are responsible for 71% of emissions, then do not punish those businesses that are trying their best but go after those that are damaging the planet the most. Allow trade freely around the world and enable it to happen sustainably.
  5. Innovate and inform. Share best practice and seek out new ways to drive change in behaviours that are damaging to our planet. Ideas from the C7 conference included asking businesses to file environmental impact reports with their accounts and implementing a traffic light system, similar to that used on food packaging, to show consumers the impact products have on the environment. Work with business to find solutions and share best practice.

The B7 Group which includes the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), BusinessEurope and the Chambers of Commerce for the US and Canada have made their ask in the form of a communique

On climate, the communique urges G7 members to build on long-term net-zero targets with “detailed policy plans and incentives to support industry, workers and communities impacted by the transition”. Indeed, the UK is facing mounting pressure to publish its net-zero roadmap before COP26 as promised.

The communique also states that the G7 should “prioritise national policies to support the development of markets that value biodiversity, natural environments and natural carbon sinks, and nature-positive business activity”. This recommendation comes ahead of the 15th biodiversity COP, where the UN will encourage nations to adopt a ‘Paris Style’ deal for nature.

Which South West businesses will be at the summit?

Innovate UK EDGE, delivered by Business West across the South West, supports the most ambitious innovative businesses pushing new boundaries in Health-Tech, environment, Agri-Tech, transport, energy and many other sectors.

Their G7 Series will showcase how businesses across the South West are delivering on key G7 policy priorities, in collaboration with partners in other G7 countries. This includes:

Innovate UK Edge G7 Series: Watch Video

What does the G7 mean for Cornwall?

Cornwall is a popular tourism destination with a rich industrial past with pockets of deprivation and is home to flagship sustainability initiatives such as the Eden Project and the UK’s first geothermal recovery plant that will extract lithium for use in the electric vehicle (EV) sector.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced he will back plans to make Cornwall the first net zero region of the UK, as he aims to create a long-term legacy from the G7 Summit. 

This includes a package of measures to help individuals and companies take steps to reduce their carbon footprint, including up to £1m of innovation funding earmarked for businesses in Cornwall to support their development of technologies, products and processes in energy efficiency, power generation and energy storage. 

The Government is partnering with Natural England and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust to launch restoration and regeneration programmes across 21,000 hectares of land. The Government claims that reforestation and the restoration of wetlands will take an estimated 440,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and address biodiversity decline (over a 30-year period, the populations of breeding birds and land mammals in Cornwall have declined by 50%).

In addition - subject to full business case approval - Cornwall will receive up to £150,000 to design and build ‘Kernosat’, a small satellite which will be used to monitor the local environment, with the potential for it to be launched from a UK spaceport next year.

How sustainable will the summit be?

As world leaders begin to arrive in Cornwall, there are questions being raised on the carbon footprint of the summit, particularly as delegates will be flying to attend.

The Government has confirmed that the summit will comply with the British Standards Institution's (BSI) - the national standards body of the UK - ISO 20121 certification for event sustainability.

As such, the Summit is set to be carbon neutral, with local produce in catering, recycled materials, sustainable energy sources, and cleaner fuels all used to help run the event. The summit will be plastic-free where possible.

The Government has appointed Arup and Crowberry Consulting to help achieve ISO 20121 certification and deliver a carbon-neutral event. Additionally, it is funding four carbon offsetting projects in developing countries, including an improved cookstoves project in Uganda, a composting facility in Vietnam, and biogas reuse in Thailand.

What happens after the Summit?

Following that, the UK will continue to encourage other nations to raise climate and nature recovery ambitions in the build-up to COP26 and COP15.

Read More:

SW business leaders send five key asks to PM ahead of G7 summit 

Visit our Trading to Net Zero hub

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