OECD, EU Countries Adopt Declaration to Intensify Climate, Environment Activities

Paris – Ministers and high-level representatives from 38 OECD and European Union member countries, as well as Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru and Romania, adopted an official OECD Declaration on Thursday committing to intensify their climate and environment activities.

The Ministerial Declaration was adopted at the close of the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Environment held on 30 and 31 March 2022, which was attended by environment ministers from OECD countries, the European Union and several non-member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Peru and Romania), as well as representatives of international organizations.

The countries made several commitments in the Declaration, including those to develop and implement effective and ambitious environmental and climate strategies with the aim of achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050, including accelerating action during this crucial decade to meet the goal of containing global temperature rise to 1.5°C, the OECD said in a statement.

They also pledge to redouble efforts to align post-COVID-19 recovery plans with environmental and climate goals to achieve a green, inclusive and resilient recovery for all, and to develop comprehensive and coherent life-cycle approaches.

These approaches would aim to combat plastic pollution and promote strong engagement in the intergovernmental negotiating committee tasked with developing an international legally binding instrument to combat plastic pollution, with the ambition of completing these negotiations by the end of 2024.