Climate scrubbed from G7 meeting to appease US, host France says
> Paris (France) (AFP) – A meeting of G7 nations on the environment begins in Paris on Thursday but climate change has been left off the agenda to avoid a row with the United States.
> The office of France's ecology minister Monique Barbut said the two-day meeting would focus on "less contentious issues" in an effort to appease the largest and most powerful G7 member.
>
>"We chose not to address the climate issue head-on... because the United States' positions on this subject are well known," the ministry said.
>
>"We wanted to prioritise G7 unity, particularly to protect this forum."
>
>President Donald Trump's administration has withdrawn the United States from global agreements on climate change and weakened environmental protections since he returned to office in 2025.
>
>France, Italy, Canada, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom are sending their environment ministers to the meeting of the Group of Seven industrialised economies.
>
>Washington will be represented by Usha-Maria Turner, assistant administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs at the US Environmental Protection Agency.
>
>Barbut's office said attendees would discuss themes including ocean conservation, biodiversity funding, and the transformation of dry areas into desert.
>
>Activists were critical of the decision to leave climate off the agenda.
>
>Gaia Febvre from activist group Climate Action Network said "a G7 moving at the pace of the United States cannot claim to respond to the crises of the century".
>
>"By yielding to pressure, it weakens collective action and renounces its potential leading role," she told AFP.
>
>It takes place just days before more than 50 countries meet in Colombia for the first-ever global conference dedicated to phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.
...
> The office of France's ecology minister Monique Barbut said the two-day meeting would focus on "less contentious issues" in an effort to appease the largest and most powerful G7 member.
>
>"We chose not to address the climate issue head-on... because the United States' positions on this subject are well known," the ministry said.
>
>"We wanted to prioritise G7 unity, particularly to protect this forum."
>
>President Donald Trump's administration has withdrawn the United States from global agreements on climate change and weakened environmental protections since he returned to office in 2025.
>
>France, Italy, Canada, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom are sending their environment ministers to the meeting of the Group of Seven industrialised economies.
>
>Washington will be represented by Usha-Maria Turner, assistant administrator for the Office of International and Tribal Affairs at the US Environmental Protection Agency.
>
>Barbut's office said attendees would discuss themes including ocean conservation, biodiversity funding, and the transformation of dry areas into desert.
>
>Activists were critical of the decision to leave climate off the agenda.
>
>Gaia Febvre from activist group Climate Action Network said "a G7 moving at the pace of the United States cannot claim to respond to the crises of the century".
>
>"By yielding to pressure, it weakens collective action and renounces its potential leading role," she told AFP.
>
>It takes place just days before more than 50 countries meet in Colombia for the first-ever global conference dedicated to phasing out fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change.
...