In an unusual admission, Group of Seven (G7) leaders said in their final communiqué that they had failed to bridge differences over climate change, with the United States unable to join other countries in committing to the United Nations sponsored Paris Agreement.
“The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics,” Reuters Newsagency reports that the communiqué read.
“Understanding this process, the heads of state and of government of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom and the presidents of the European Council and of the European Commission reaffirm their strong commitment to swiftly implement the Paris Agreement,” it said.
Bloomberg newsagency reports US President Donald Trump showed his determination to break the global mould as he refused to follow the G7 line on climate change and forced a more sceptical approach to free trade.
The summit of G7 leaders in Sicily wrapped up with a fragile truce on the two most contentious topics on the table.
The US pushed back on worldwide efforts to curb global warming that President Trump’s predecessor had signed up to and won a reference in the final statement on the need for trade to be “free, fair and mutually beneficial.”
President Trump called it a “tremendously productive meeting” that concluded “a truly historic week.”
“I laid out my vision for economic growth, trade” and “in support of fair paying jobs,” he said in an address to US troops at an Italian base after the summit, citing “great progress toward very, very vital goals.”
Earlier, in an unusual move, six of the seven leaders recommitted to the Paris Agreement on climate change while acknowledging that the US was “reviewing its policies” and thus “not in a position to join in the consensus.” President Trump tweeted during the talks that he’d come to a decision next week, a fact, of which, his host, Italy’s Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, did not seem to be aware.
“I have no idea what the timeline will be for the US to come to a conclusion on climate change,” Mr Gentiloni told reporters at the end of two days of talks.
The agreement to disagree was necessary as a result of the Trump administration’s decision to break with the established international order honed over decades.
Elected on a platform of “America First,” the president told his fellow leaders that protecting US jobs was his priority, according to two government officials from member delegations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the longest-serving head at a summit that featured four leaders not present at last year’s G7, told reporters that the discussion about climate had been “difficult” and marred by “dissent.”
“Here we have the situation that six members, or even seven if you want to add the EU, stand against one,” she said.
On trade, technical negotiations had stretched into the early morning in Taormina to try to reconcile President Trump’s approach with the others’ commitment to open markets.
What Mr Gentiloni called an ‘equilibrium point” was found in the shape of a commitment to “keep our markets open and to fight protectionism,” while acknowledging that “trade has not always worked to the benefit of everyone.”
For Chancellor Merkel, it was a “reasonable solution” that commits to a rules-based system and a successful World Trade Organisation.
