Canada, China, and the EU co-hosted the seventh Ministerial on Climate Action (MoCA), which brought together ministers from Group of 20 (G20) countries and other key parties in the UN climate negotiations. Discussions focused on the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the first Global Stocktake (GST), and finance for loss and damage, among other issues.

The two-day meeting convened in Brussels, Belgium, from 13-14 July 2023. Ministers collaborated on shared priorities and worked to build international momentum in the lead up to the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans underscored the need for radical, immediate, and transformative action to address the triple planetary crisis. He said the Nature Restoration Law, recently approved by the European Parliament, will enable the EU’s implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Timmermans called for a global commitment on renewables and energy efficiency and highlighted the need to “transition to an energy system free of unabated fossil fuels well ahead of 2050,” lamenting that public and private finance flows to fossil fuels are still greater than those to climate change adaptation and mitigation. He called for a major shift in the structure of the global economy, financial markets, and investments that would enable more action and ambition.

Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault highlighted the need for new and enhanced concrete actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. He reiterated Canada’s commitment to making climate and biodiversity action “mutually reinforcing” and to an inclusive approach to addressing climate change.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said the Global Stocktake is “our opportunity to enhance action and the support necessary to achieve our goals.” Among priorities for COP 28, he highlighted:

• funding arrangements and a fund for loss and damage;
• work on the global goal on adaptation;
• strengthening the mitigation work programme;
• building the substance of the work programme on just transition; and
• demonstrating “credible progress” on the climate finance goal of USD 100 billion per year.

Stiell also indicated that at COP 28, countries will prepare for the 2024 start of the reporting and review process under the enhanced transparency framework.

In addition to the co-hosts, MoCA participants included Belgium, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Senegal, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye, the UAE, the UK, the US, and Zambia. The annual gathering’s goal is to “bring together major economies and key climate actors to discuss concrete steps to help advance implementation of the Paris Agreement and demonstrate continued commitment to global climate action.” [Ministerial Meetings on Climate Action]