Japan and the European Commission held their 19th High-Level Dialogue on Environment via videoconference on 23 January 2023 to discuss three key environmental issues – biodiversity, circular economy and plastics, and pollution. 

They also discussed multilateral developments in relation to the G7 Japanese presidency, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the negotiations on a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, the Basel Convention, and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).

The meeting was co-chaired by ONO Hiroshi, Vice Minister for Global Environmental Affairs, Ministry of the Environment, Japan, and Florika FINK-HOOIJER, Director General, Directorate-General for the Environment of the European Commission.

The partners expressed their continued commitment to enhance their environmental ambition at the national and multilateral levels in line with the EU-Japan Green Alliance. On the latter they welcomed progress in the development of the EU-Japan Green Alliance operational work plan, and in this context, they confirmed the contents of the section dedicated to environmental protection and expressed their common will to implement it with concrete steps in the coming months.

Source: Delegation of the European Union to Japan