Environment ministers of the G7 nations met in France Sunday, a day ahead of the release of what is expected to be another alarming report on the state of the planet.
Ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States gathered for the two-day meeting in the northeastern city of Metz.
They were due to discuss measures to tackle deforestation, plastic pollution and the degradation of coral reefs and try to form alliances between nations to act on them.
Joining the ministers were delegations from the European Union as well as Chile, Egypt, the Fiji Islands, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Niger and Norway.
"We need to come out of this G7... with some very concrete things that go beyond speeches," said France's junior minister for ecological transition, Brune Poirson, as the meeting opened.
On Monday, the UN will publish an executive summary of a 1,800-page tome crafted by more than 400 experts - the first UN global assessment of the natural world in 15 years.
Drafts of both documents obtained by AFP leave no doubt that it will paint a disturbing picture of widespread destruction wrought by man, some of it irreparable.
"We will agree on the best ways to enhance the place of biodiversity on the international stage...," said France's Minister for Ecological Transition, Francois de Rugy.
But Andrew Wheeler, the former coal lobbyist appointed by President Donald Trump to head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), told the meeting too much attention was being paid to the worst-case scenarios on climate change.
Outside the meeting, environmental campaigners "Alter G7" demonstrated to highlight what they say is the urgency of the global crisis.
- CBCSD and Members Participated and Suggested on the Project for Technical Regulation on Low-carbon Pilot Community
- CBCSD and Members Participated in the APEC Cooperation Network Construction Forum of Green Supply Chain
- Calculation Method of CO2 Emissions in Petroleum and Natural Gas Exploitation Enterprises & Calculation Method of CO2 Emissions in Water Network of Chemical Enterprises
- CBCSD Attended the Workshop for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development and Delivered Introductions
- WBCSD: Tackling the Challenge, How to Make Informed Choices on Forest Product?
- The National New-Type Urbanization Plan Released, Board Members of CBCSD Help the Sustainable Development of Cities
- Board members of CBCSD Actively Participated in the Carbon Trading and International Climate Change Process
- Two industrial Standards Compiled by CBCSD Passed Examination
- Widespread Use of the Achievements Businesses Energy Saving and Greenhouse Gas Management
- CBCSD held Chemical industry enterprise value chain (range 3) greenhouse gas emissions, accounting and reporting guidelines