Media Release: Global Climate Advocacy Groups Applaud G7 Climate Clubs

Media Release: Global Climate Advocacy Groups Applaud G7 Climate Clubs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2022, 10:00 am EDT

Global Climate Advocacy Groups Applaud G7 Climate Club

Media Contact: press@citizensclimateintl.org
Media Event: Wed, June 29 (Details below)

SUDBURY, ON — The Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), have just concluded their summit in Elmau, Germany. The G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. The summit was conducted at a critical juncture for the global community.

Citizens’ Climate International applauds the G7 declaration on open and inclusive climate club:

The G7 is committed to fighting climate change, but at the same time wants to ensure security of energy supply. The aim is to “accelerate a clean and just transition to climate neutrality while ensuring energy security,” according to a jointly released statement. Partnerships in the development of infrastructure and investments could also contribute to the goals of an “open and inclusive climate club”. 

This G7 declaration was also endorsed by the G7-2022 partner countries Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa.

The work of the G7 is not done in a vacuum.

The latest IPCC Report concluded it is now or never. That same report “looked beyond technologies and demonstrates that while financial flows are a factor of three to six times lower than levels needed by 2030 to limit warming to below 2°C, there is sufficient global capital and liquidity to close investment gaps. However, it relies on clear signaling from governments and the international community, including a stronger alignment of public sector finance and policy.” https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/

Last year, 450 major financial institutions committed to aligning the $130 trillion they manage to science-based net-zero targets in the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net-Zero. https://www.gfanzero.com/

Governments must use policy instruments to successfully mobilize private sector financing at that scale. At the same time, governments must address the affordability crisis.

“Governments around the world can create an equitable and resilient world if they enact evidence-based and socially-just policies that will redirect financial flows away from fossil fuels and towards a resilient and equitable future,” says Cathy Orlando, a Canadian and director of Programs at Citizens’ Climate International .

Canada’s price on carbon pollution is highly efficient and results in progressive outcomes for most taxpayers. The fact is most Canadians living in the provinces with the federal carbon pollution fee (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) come out ahead. The policy is positioning Canada to be a leader in the emerging climate-resilient economy of this century.

”The world should look at how Canada prices carbon pollution”, says David Michael Terungwa, a Nigerian and Field Development Lead and Africa Regional Coordinator  for Citizens’ Climate International. “It reduces income inequality and greenhouse gas pollution from the burning of fossil fuels at the same time”.

It should be noted that the major civil society groups engaged with the G7 including the B7 (business), C7 (civil society), S7 (science), T7 (think tank), W7 (women) and Y7 (youth) that work within the G7 had carbon pricing or redirecting financial flows in their key climate  demands.  For full details go here: https://citizensclimate.earth/2022/06/22/laser-talk-powerful-carbon-pricing-demands-to-the-g7-and-g20-from-civil-society-groups/

Just prior to the G7, the Sustainable Markets Initiative—a collection of more than 400 CEOs from every sector and chaired by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales—put forth a three-pronged path to accelerate the transition to a sustainable future that includes carbon pricing, optimization of the the impact of public funds, and government mandates that offer the private sector clarity and stability.
https://a.storyblok.com/f/109506/x/078a651725/smi-ft-ad-final.pdf

Lastly, almost 1,200 global climate advocates from 80 countries sent Citizens’ Climate International letters to the G7 leaders asking the leaders to:

  1. Rapidly redirect financial flows away from fossil fuels and towards an equitable and resilient future. These policies must align with the Net Zero Scenario from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
  2. Negotiate the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to complement the Paris Agreement and financially support a rapid, equitable and managed phase-out of fossil fuels.
  3. Finance successful adaptation and resilience measures to keep vulnerable communities safe from preventable harm.

The letter in its entirety and the current number of letters can be found here: https://citizensclimate.earth/2022/06/12/g7-leaders-steer-us-to-safety/

“We are in a climate emergency. Civil Society networks, business and climate advocates globally are now collectively pushing for governments to enact policies to redirect financial flows towards a resilient and equitable future,” says Orlando. “History had its eyes on the G7. Their Climate Club will need to be more than just a ‘talking shop’ and deliver concrete actions.”

Citizens’ Climate International (CCI) and the G7: Citizens’ Climate International (CCI) has been engaging within the Civil Society Networks that send demands to the G7 leaders since 2018.  Our primary policy focus is carbon pricing and border carbon adjustments and more generally financial flows. The policies we support must be rooted in human rights and gender justice.

From January 2022 to May 2022, a dozen CCI members from ten countries (Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Nigeria,  Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) worked within and monitored carefully several civil society networks representing over 300 global organizations that sent demands to the G7 in Germany this year.


Post G7-Summit Media Event

Representatives from around the world in Citizens’ Climate International’s network will be available to respond to the outcomes of the G7 Summit, their Steer Us to Safety Campaign and key climate demands from the G7’s Civil Society networks.

Panelists:

  1. Joseph Roberston – Executive Director at Citizens’ Climate International
  2. Cathy Orlando –  Director of Programs at Citizens’ Climate International
  3. David Michael Terungwa – Field Development Lead and Africa Regional Coordinator for Citizens’ Climate International volunteer chapters across the continent.
  4. Rod Mitchell – National Chair of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Australia
  5. Kohei Noda – Citizens’ Climate International Lead – Tokyo Japan
  6. Alex Krantz – Citizens’ Climate International Summer (Canadian)
  7. More T.B.A.

Citizens’ Climate International
Citizens’ Climate International (CCI) is a sister group to Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) USA. CCL has operated since 2007 in the USA and 2010 in Canada. CCI is organized in 76 countries with almost 20,000 supporters outside the US and 152 active chapters in 52 countries. CCL and CCI have civil society status at the G7, the G20, the World Bank, and observer status at UNFCCC COP meetings. The organization is a founding strategic partner of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, which brings together leaders from the public sector, the private sector, and civil society to investigate and promote carbon pricing.

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