G7: EU Amb., C7 pushes global cooperation

Professor Aniebiet Inyang Ntui, the Ambassador of the EU’s European Climate Pact, made a valuable contribution to the Civil 7 (C7) meeting in Tokyo, which took place this week. The C7 is one of the official Engagement Groups of the G7, representing positions from the international civil society. The Communique for 2023, launched on Wednesday, April 12, has been handed to the G7 Chair and Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida.

In the Communique, the C7 stressed the G7’s significant responsibility to embrace multilateralism, international law, global solidarity, and justice. They called for the G7 to lead and support reforms of global financial institutions repurposing them as inclusive, effective, transparent and well-resourced multilateral instruments fit for the needs and challenges of the 21st century. The C7 also highlighted the importance of upholding the principles of democracy and human rights, condemning racism, and encouraging meaningful participation of youth in decision-making.

Professor Aniebiet Inyang Ntui’s participation in the C7 meeting emphasized the need for global cooperation and collective action to address pressing challenges such as climate change, hunger, and poverty. The Communique also featured crucial recommendations, including the implementation of a phase-out of coal power in line with an overall OECD phase-out by 2030 and a commitment to a fully decarbonized energy sector by 2035, ensuring the end of new public finance to all fossil fuels.

Sandra Martinsone, Co-Head of Policy, Advocacy, and Research at Bond, who is attending the C7 meeting in Tokyo, stressed the need for the G7 to take bold steps to address interconnected debt, climate, hunger, and poverty crises. Martinsone noted that there are enough ideas and finance to spearhead genuine transformative change to prevent catastrophic consequences, but political will, solidarity and cooperation over competition are necessary.

Aniebiet Inyang Ntui is a Nigerian diplomat and professor who has served as the Ambassador of the EU’s European Climate Pact since December 2022. She has chaired panels at various international conferences, including the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference, the 2022 G20 Bali Summit, and the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference. She was named by the Web of Science as the “Most Read Researcher in Nigeria” and is the current University Librarian at the University of Calabar, Nigeria.

(The Japan Times)