G7 Day 2: Pressure mounts on G7 to go further on climate change and nature

Climate change is one of the key themes at the three-day summit in Carbis Bay. The group of seven - the UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy - are expected to pledge to almost halve their emissions by 2030, relative to 2010 levels. The UK has already surpassed that commitment, previously promising to cut emissions by the equivalent of 58% on 2010 levels.

Today (13th June) on the final day of the summit, countries will set out how they hope to meet the emissions target. This is expected to be through phasing out petrol and diesel cars, ending all unabated coal use as soon as possible, and stopping almost all direct government support for the fossil fuel sector overseas.

The G7 leaders are expected to endorse a plan aimed at reversing the loss of biodiversity - a measure of how many different species live in ecosystems - by the end of the decade. The plan will include supporting the global target to conserve or protect at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030.

Ahead of his address to the G7 leaders, Sir David Attenborough warns that humans could be "on the verge of destabilising the entire planet". His latest venture, Breaking Boundaries, on Netflix explains how humans are causing earth systems to become unstable.

The business community are urging the G7 to lead on climate change. The Business 7, which includes business groups from the G7 countries including British Chambers of Commerce prepared a 7 point communique, ahead of the summit, on Climate Change, stating that: “until everyone is carbon neutral, no-one is carbon neutral”. It recommends that the G7:

• Target the end of unabated coal in power generation by 2040; detail policy plans and incentives to support industry, workers and communities impacted by the transition; and drive innovation in abatement and alternative power generation technologies
• Prioritise national policies to support the development of markets that value biodiversity, natural environments, and nature-positive business activity.
• Increase international alignment in developing sustainable finance taxonomies, disclosures, regulations, and policy frameworks.

The C7, Chambers of Commerce groups from the G7 countries (including Business West) wrote to the Prime Minister following the C7 Conference: a blue and green recovery with five asks to enable businesses to transition to Net Zero.

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 business 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.

Campaign groups with links to the South West have also been raising awareness with:

• Cornish based Surfers Against Sewage staging a “paddle out” protest to raise awareness of the health of the world’s oceans.
• XR, which was founded in Stroud, Gloucestershire, protesting and using performance art pieces to “sound the alarm" 
• Greenpeace used 300 illuminated drones from Celestial Labs to create animals in the night sky before forming together to make the words Act Now in a message 250ft in height and 400ft in length, with a call for leaders to Act Now.
• A sculpture of the G7 leaders shaped like Mount Rushmore made of electronic waste was erected ahead of the summit to highlight the growing volume of e-waste.

Current carbon policies and laws are not sufficient to limit warming to 1.5C as set out in the Paris Agreement. In a guest blog for Climate Brief,  Dr Shaikh Eskander, senior lecturer of economics at Kingston University London  and Prof Sam Fankhauser, research director of Oxford Net Zero, University of Oxford, explain how climate laws implemented by the G7 have cut climate emissions but could do far more.

Current policies cut the collective carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the G7 by 1.3bn tonnes (GtCO2) in 2019, meaning emissions were 12% lower than they would have been if no climate laws had been put into place. They conclude that climate policies are an important tool to address Climate Change rather than wider socioeconomic changes and market forces.

With current laws being successfull at bending the emissions curve but insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement, to limit warming to 1.5C , the discussions today in Cornwall are vitally important.

Businesses West is a BCorp and is on a journey towards Net Zero. Through Trading to Net Zero we work with our members, the wider business community and stakeholders across the region to accelerate progress towards Net Zero.