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. After the meeting, Ishihara said, “We managed to send out a message of G7 unity.” He added that Japan will continue to highlight the significance of incorporating climate change under international cooperation, in order to achieve goals established under the Paris Agreement. The declarations feature a plan for France to take the initiative to set up a framework to strengthen cooperation among companies, foundations and development banks to help secure funds for biodiversity conservation. The ministers also vow to enhance resilience by reducing the risk of damage to homes and public infrastructure during natural disasters triggered by extreme weather. Also on Friday, the G7 Non-Proliferation Directors Group issued a statement ahead of a review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty set to kick off on Monday in New York. In the statement, the G7 members said, “We are concerned with China’s and Russia’s significant nuclear weapons build-up and modernization.” “Concrete risk reduction measures should be pursued,” they added. “The G7 remains determined that Iran must never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon,” they said. They also urged North Korea to “abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.” The G7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]