Climate change was a hot topic at this year’s G7 summit, where world leaders took a major step forward on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s according to Oakville’s Ella Kokotsis, who was in Bavaria, Germany on June 7 and 8 for the 41st annual G7 summit.
She was there in her role as the director of accountability for the G7 and G20 Research Groups based at the University of Toronto’s (UOT) Munk School of Global Affairs.
The local resident also works at the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) and is a wife and mother of two.
Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel obtained “unanimous support” from the G7 on making deep reductions in emissions – a 40-70 per cent cut by 2050, compared to 2010 levels, Kokotsis said.
“Canada’s strongest contribution may have come in the area of climate change. This was a major issue for Merkel in hosting this year’s summit,” Kokotsis told the Oakville Beaver through email while out of the country.
She noted Merkel also secured an agreement from the countries, including Canada, on the need for a binding climate agreement with “firm and measurable targets” by the end of the year, when United Nation (UN) climate meetings will take place.
“G7 is strongly determined to adopt a legally-binding protocol at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris this December, which is applicable to all countries and is ambitious, robust and inclusive,” said Kokotsis.
“The agreement in Paris has to have binding rules that track progress towards achieving targets.”
The world leaders want their countries to follow a “low-carbon development pathway” aligned with the goal of keeping the increase in global temperatures below 2 Celsius, she said.
“They committed to long-term national energy strategies aimed at a 40-70 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050 compared to 2010. This target is on the upper end of the UN’s recommended reductions,” said Kokotsis.
“But this requires a global response – meaning the world’s largest emitters, like China and India, have to follow suit.”
The Oakville woman said the group decided to maintain its commitment to generating US$100 billion per year by 2020 for mitigation strategies – from public and private sources.
“Climate finance would be targeted towards those developing countries that were making progress on mitigation strategies. The G7 remained committed to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies,” said Kokotsis.
The G7 Climate Risk Insurance Initiative was created to examine insurance coverage solutions for 400 million people and assets in the “most vulnerable areas of the world” affected by negative impacts of climate change, Kokotsis told the Beaver.
The shift in Earth’s climate wasn’t the only environmental-related conversation – marine litter was discussed for the first time by the G7, she said, as leaders focused on preventing, reducing and eliminating aquatic waste, particularly when it comes to protecting ecosystems.
“They stressed the voluntary phase-out of microbeads as a way of supporting the marine environment. They agreed to an exchange platform for the removal of litter on beaches, riverbanks, the seafloor, ports and inland waterways,” said Kokotsis.
The G7 endorsed creating a “harmonized global marine litter monitoring effort” that would standardize data and evaluations, Kokotsis said, as well as committing to precautionary approaches in deep-sea mining activities and conducting environmental impact assessments on related projects.
The 2015 Elmau Accountability Report focuses on biodiversity, but also addresses global health issues, water security, infectious diseases and climate change.
“Leaders recognize the importance of this type of self-reporting and agreed to work to improve country-level accountability processes to ensure transparency and candid self-reporting,” said Kokotsis.
The summit’s other “biggest accomplishment” dealt with the Ukraine-Russia situation, Kokotsis said, as G7 declared its intent to increase sanctions against Russia should the need arise.
Russia was once again excluded from the summit as a result of its illegal referendum and annexation of Crimea last year.
“They reiterated their condemnation of the illegal annexation of Ukraine by Russia and highlighted the importance of territorial integrity, sovereignty and the rule of law,” said Kokotsis.
Russian sanctions are linked to its actions in Ukraine and the G7 are prepared to add more “restrictive measures” to increase the cost on Russia, the director of accountability said.
G7 ambassadors in Kyiv were asked to establish a Ukraine support group that would provide assistance to its economic reform process.
“They called on all sides to respect and implement the Minsk peace agreement/ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons,” said Kokotsis.
“The G7 is supporting Ukraine’s structural reform policies and will continue to provide financial and technical support.”
Other topics discussed included the United States-Iran nuclear program negotiations, antibiotics and the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.
With regards to the latter, summit leaders agreed to offer assistance to 60 countries, including West African nations, over the next 5 years in the fight against Ebola, according to the Oakville resident.
Germany offered to compose a comprehensive proposal for effective crisis management in health that will focus on timely mobilization and appropriate response capacities for major health outbreaks, she said.
The leaders consented to strengthen mechanisms that would allow for a quick deployment of response teams and experts for future epidemics, she said.
On the theme of global markets, the group acknowledged that its members’ unemployment levels are “still too high,” Kokotsis said, and would like to see the promotion of worldwide growth through innovation, protection of intellectual property rights, and support for small- and medium-sized enterprises, quality infrastructure investment and structural reforms.
“They agreed that putting the world on a sustainable growth path requires the protection of the climate and the promotion of global health,” she said.