G7 make historic commitment to work with cities on subnational climate actions

April 27, 2023

G7 make historic commitment to work with cities on subnational climate actions

On 15-16 April, the communiqué and its annexes were adopted at the G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy, and Environment in Sapporo. Of relevance to local governments, it was announced that the G7 Roundtable on Subnational Climate Actions had been established for the first time and that the Urban 7 (U7), the voice of local governments at the G7 process, is invited to participate in the roundtable meeting.In the G7 Climate, Energy, and Environment Ministers’ Communiqué, the G7 recognised “the vital role of subnational actors in realizing the transformation toward net-zero, climate-resilient, circular, and nature-positive economies, furthering socioeconomic opportunities based on local capacity, needs, and individual environmental conditions.” The Ministers committed to “catalyze support for actions by subnational actors, encourage sharing best practices and promote city-to-city cooperation.”

Against this background, the G7 established the G7 Roundtable on Subnational Climate Actions to promote multilevel cooperation between national and subnational governments and to strengthen collaboration among G7 in international cooperation. The roundtable meeting will be held in mid-2023. Discussions at the roundtable meeting will be compiled into summary report to be presented at the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UNFCCC in Dubai this year, with the aim of disseminating the outputs to the wider international community, including the G20.

Since its inception in 2021, the Urban7 (U7) has played an important role in the G7 process, particularly in several ministerial communiqués and at the G7 Summit in 2022, where it received unprecedented recognition.
Throughout 2023, U7 has worked closely with Japan’s Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism to ensure the voices of cities are included in G7 discussions. At the U7 Mayors Summit 2023 in Tokyo on 2 March, the U7 Mayors’ Declaration was adopted and handed over to the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasising the importance of cities.

At the exhibition booth of the welcome reception in the G7 Sapporo Ministers’ Meeting, the U7 was represented by Togo Uchida, Executive Director, ICLEI Japan, and Akiko Saga, Deputy Director-General, JDCMA. The U7 activities and the main messages of the 2023 U7 Mayors’ Declaration were discussed with national representatives, including Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom.

For more information, visit the official Urban7 (U7) website and the ICLEI World Secretariat | Press Release
Read more about the U7 2022 Impact Report