Japan ministers open G7 meeting in Sapporo

Japan’s Environment Minister, Akihiro Nishimura, stressed that the Group of Seven wealthy nations needed to be "unwaveringly" committed to the Paris agreement and the biodiversity framework. His comments came during the plenary session of G-7 climate summit being held in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo.

The summit is aimed at forging a consensus on the best way forward to tackle climate issues ahead of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima in May. The talks in Sapporo will also focus on the stability of the energy market, biodiversity loss and other global challenges.At the G-7 summit last year in Germany, the members set a common goal of achieving a fully or predominantly decarbonized electricity supply by 2035.