Final Evaluation of the project Environmental Diplomacy in G7/G20

This report evaluates the “Environmental Diplomacy in G7/G20” action against OECD-DAC criteria plus EU added value and coherence. It reviews how the project supported EU priorities in G7/G20 fora and provides conclusions and recommendations.

The EU-funded “Environmental Diplomacy in G7/G20” action (29 May 2018–28 Feb 2023, €2.5m) aimed to strengthen EU environmental diplomacy by supporting EU input into G7/G20 agendas, facilitating exchanges with partner governments and non-state actors, and promoting EU solutions on three themes: resource efficiency/circular economy, marine litter/plastics, and green finance. It provided scoping studies and policy inputs, supported event preparation/logistics, and delivered workshops, conferences and study visits, communications were adapted during COVID-19. The evaluation is based on document review and stakeholder interviews with EC services (incl. FPI/DG ENV), EU Delegations/EEAS and external stakeholders. It assesses relevance, coherence/complementarity, EU added value, effectiveness, efficiency and impact, and reviews cross-cutting issues (including gender). Findings: relevance is high and the project helped elevate the EU’s voice in G7/G20 environmental discussions, coherence with EU policies and related initiatives is strong, EU added value is clear via PI/FPI agility. Effectiveness and efficiency are moderate, constrained by shifting presidency priorities, logistical constraints and reporting inconsistencies. Impact is difficult to evidence, recommendations include adaptive influencing plans, improved knowledge sharing, systematic gender mainstreaming, and a flexible M&E framework with qualitative influence indicators.