Xinhua News Agency, Osaka, Japan, June 27, Summary: Environmental issues are in the spotlight ahead of the G20 Osaka summit

Xinhua News Agency reporter Hua Yi Hao Yalin

The 14th summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) leaders will soon be kicked off in Osaka, Japan. In addition to traditional topics such as the global economy, trade and investment, environmental and energy issues are also in the spotlight, with climate change and Marine plastic pollution expected to be high on the agenda at the summit.

The G20 Energy and Environment Ministers meeting, held in Nagano, Japan, on June 15-16, adopted a joint statement that decided to establish an international framework for reducing Marine plastic waste, with countries reporting regularly on the progress of their action plans and making efforts to reduce plastic waste under mutual supervision.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said recently that tackling the problem of Marine plastic waste is one of the important topics of the G20 Osaka Summit. At the summit, Japan plans to propose a goal of "zero plastic waste entering the ocean by 2050" and seek consensus. In a sign of its efforts to reduce plastic pollution, the media center at the G20 Osaka summit did not offer plastic bottles of drinks.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the world currently produces more than 300 million tons of plastic waste a year, of which about 8 million tons end up in the sea through rivers and other decomposing plastic particles. The World Economic Forum has also warned that if no changes are made, the total weight of plastic in the world's oceans could exceed the total weight of fish in the oceans by 2050. Scientific research shows that the problem of Marine plastic pollution not only harms Marine life, but also affects the global ecosystem and has become a global environmental problem.

At present, many countries around the world are taking measures to control Marine plastic pollution. The Canadian government has announced that the country will ban single-use plastic products starting in 2021. This comes after the European Parliament voted to ban several single-use plastic products.

G20 members account for two-thirds of the world's population, China accounts for about 85 percent of global GDP and 80 percent of global trade, and is seen as an important force in tackling climate change. At the 13th G20 Leaders' Summit held in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, last year, participants reached consensus on tackling climate change and other issues. Climate change will continue to be an important topic at this summit. However, as the host country of the summit, Japan's attitude to accommodate the US position on climate change has caused concern in the local media.

Japan's Kyodo News agency reported on the 25th that the draft declaration of the summit on global warming stressed the need to accelerate the virtuous cycle of environmental and economic growth, achieve development while curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and strive to promote technological innovation. However, the wording on the Paris Agreement on climate change does not appear, such as "reaffirming the irreversibility of the agreement" and "full implementation", which were included in last year's summit declaration. Kyodo said this could be seen as a backsliding, sparking criticism in Japan and outside China.

However, the draft will still be discussed by the countries. French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France will not accept a summit declaration that does not mention the Paris Agreement.

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