G7 leaders commit to protect planet and accelerate investment for global green growth

G7 leaders have agreed commitments to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and tackle deforestation, marine litter and illegal wildlife trade.

At the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Cornwall, countries have agreed 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.

They also announced a G7 Nature Compact. This is a key agreement which brings G7 countries together to address the most pressing international and interlinked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change. Leaders have also agreed to review progress against the Nature Compact to ensure delivery of its 2030 vision.

This next milestone marks a crucial commitment to supporting global consensus and taking bold action for the delivery of ambitious outcomes for nature in 2021. Climate change is one key driver of biodiversity loss, and protecting, conserving and restoring biodiversity is crucial to addressing climate change.

The G7 Nature Compact commits world leaders to:

• Shift incentives and use all appropriate levers to address unsustainable and illegal activities negatively impacting nature, such as through tackling deforestation by supporting sustainable supply chains, and stepping up efforts to tackle the illegal wildlife trade
• Work to dramatically increase investment in nature from all sources, and to ensure nature is accounted for in economic and financial decision-making - for instance, through drawing on the Dasgupta Review for key actions
• Support and drive the protection, conservation and restoration of ecosystems critical to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and tackle climate change, such as supporting the target to conserve or protect at least 30% of global land and at least 30% of the global ocean by the end of the decade
• Hold themselves to account for taking domestic and global action for nature through driving strengthened accountability and implementation mechanisms of all Multilateral Environmental Agreements to which we are parties

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: "For the first time, the G7 has committed to halting and reversing the loss of biodiversity in the next decade. "This is a major step forward on the path to CBD COP15 and COP26 and is a sign of the dedication to accelerate action within the G7 - and beyond - to tackle the interdependent crises of climate change and biodiversity loss."

"We have seen major progress this weekend and we welcome the collaboration between global leaders to raise our ambition and remain accountable in this critical decade."

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."

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.