G7 Ministers Adopt Environmental Declarations, Sidestep Climate

Paris, April 24 (Jiji Press)--Environment ministers from the Group of Seven major countries adopted joint declarations on environmental issues at their two-day meeting that ended in Paris on Friday, while dropping climate change from the agenda to avoid friction with the United States.

The G7 ministers, including Japan's Environment Minister Hirotaka Ishihara, adopted seven declarations covering various fields, including biodiversity, marine conservation and water pollution.

Participants refrained from discussing decarbonization after the U.S. government under President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, an international framework to fight climate change.

France's environment minister Monique Barbut said at a press conference that discussing climate change would have risked some countries pulling out of the talks.

She said that the participants discussed priority areas that would likely produce agreements, shifting their focus to the importance of avoiding G7 discord and prioritizing practical benefits.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]