The G7 Toyama Environment Ministers’ Meeting gathers environment ministers from G7 countries and the EU prior to the G7 Summit to freely exchange views and build consensus on global environmental issues. The Environment Ministers’ Meeting has been in abeyance since it was last held in Italy in 2009, but in the lead-up to the G7 Japan 2016 Ise-Shima Summit, a G7 Environment Ministers’ Meeting will be held in Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture.

High-level negotiations and studies will be required to implement new frameworks to address climate change and resolve other environmental issues, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations Summit in September 2015 and the Paris Agreement reached by the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) held in December 2015. International interest in environmental protection policies is on the rise, and the upcoming G7 Toyama Environment Ministers’ Meeting will be a key forum for dialogue to harmonize G7 nations’ policies in this area prior to the G7 Japan 2016 Ise-Shima Summit.

Dates: Sun. May 15 and Mon. May 16, 2016

Dates: A welcome event hosted by the Toyama will be held on Sat. May 14.

Venue: Toyama International Conference Center

Participants: Japan, Italy, Canada, France, USA, UK, Germany, EU

Ministerial-level participants will exchange views on environmental protection policies that are attracting increasing international interest in areas.

Agenda for the G7 Toyama Environment Ministers' Meeting (Press Release) (April 15, 2016)

The G7 Toyama Environment Ministers’ Meeting was held in Toyama City, Toyama on May 15-16. In the Ministers' Meeting presided by the Chair, Tamayo Marukawa, Minister of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ), 7 themes were discussed and the Communiqué was issued.

In addition, the G7 Toyama Environment Ministers’ Meeting Parallel Session on ‘The Role of Cities’ was held, where global warming countermeasures and environmental protection policies were discussed while sharing actual progressive cases.

· Communiqué -G7 Toyama Environment Ministers' Meeting (PDF) (May 16. 2016)

While gathered in Toyama, Japan for the G7 Environment Ministers’ Meeting, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Gina McCarthy, and the Minister of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ), Tamayo Marukawa, met and discussed the accomplishments and plans for the U.S. – Japan environmental cooperation on May 16 (Mon) and issued the joint statement.

· Joint Statement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Ministry of the Environment of Japan on Continued Bilateral Environmental Cooperation (PDF) (May 17, 2016)

The Minister of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ), Tamayo Marukawa, and the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety of the Federal Republic of Germany, Barbara Hendricks held a bilateral environmental policy dialogue on Climate Change, Resource Efficiency and the 3Rs, and Marine Litter, etc. on May 18 (Wed).

· Joint Statement between the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Minister of the Environment, Japan (PDF) (May 18, 2016)

G7 Ise-Shima Leaders’ Declaration was issued at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit, 26-27 May 2016.

Several areas related to environmental issues were stated in the Preamble of the Declaration, including the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and the Paris Agreement on climate change last year, along with the clear statement that further efforts will be made to implement the commitments.

Also, the topics and results covered in the G7 Toyama Environment Ministers’ Meeting, such as the efforts toward the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement and the Toyama Framework on Material Cycles, were utilized in the declaration.