G7 Leaders Recommit to Achieve SDGs by 2030, Net Zero by 2050

The Group of 7 (G7) leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, together with the EU, have concluded a three-day summit, united in their “determination to meet the global challenges of this moment and set the course for a better future.” Recognizing the linkages between poverty reduction and tackling the climate and nature crises, the leaders pledged to work to accelerate achievement of the SDGs.

The G7 Leaders’ Summit took place in Hiroshima, Japan, from 19-21 May 2023.

Dated 20 May, the 40-page G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué recognizes the interrelated and mutually reinforcing nature of global goals on reducing poverty, responding to the climate crisis, and addressing debt vulnerabilities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), and underscores the leaders’ determination to “mobilize the private and public resources needed to meet these challenges and support a just transition.”

The leaders commit to work to “make concrete progress on this agenda” at the Summit on a New Financial Pact, the G20 Summit, the SDG Summit, the 2023 World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings, and the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28), among other key meetings.

The leaders reaffirm their commitment to revitalizing international cooperation and strengthening multilateralism to reverse the setbacks in progress towards the SDGs, and highlight the importance of addressing development, humanitarian, and peace and security issues together.

On climate change and the environment, the leaders are “steadfast” in their commitment to keeping the 1.5°C temperature goal “within reach” by scaling up action during this decade, “halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, and ensuring energy security, whilst leveraging synergies and recognizing the interdependent nature of these challenges.” They commit to the transformation towards “net-zero, circular, climate-resilient, pollution-free and nature-positive economies … while ensuring sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development and enhancing [economic] resilience.”

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The leaders commit to address energy security, the climate crisis, and geopolitical risks in a holistic manner. They highlight “the urgent need and opportunity to accelerate clean energy transitions” to increase energy security at the same time, underscoring the necessity of economic diversification and transformation.

The Leaders’ Communiqué also outlines the G7’s commitments on, inter alia, economic resilience and economic security, trade, food security, health, labor, education, digital transformation, science and technology, gender, and human rights.

The G7 leaders also issued:

• G7 Leaders’ Hiroshima Vision on Nuclear Disarmament;
• G7 Leaders’ Statement on Ukraine;
• G7 Clean Energy Economy Action Plan;
• G7 Leaders’ Statement on Economic Resilience and Economic Security; and
• Hiroshima Action Statement for Resilient Global Food Security.

The G7 leaders were joined by the leaders from Australia, Brazil, Comoros, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Viet Nam, as well as representatives from the UN, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. The President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission represented the EU.

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This article was originally published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and is republished here as part of an editorial collaboration with IISD.