Six G-7 members against one as Trump reviews climate policy

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump continued to distance himself from fellow world leaders over climate change at the G-7 summit, and said he would determine soon whether to pull the US out of the landmark Paris climate accord.

“I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week,” Trump told his almost 31 million Twitter followers.

Trump, who for months has delayed a decision on the climate agreement, made his announcement at the conclusion of the Group of Seven summit in the resort town of Taormina, Italy, yesterday.

In an unprecedented step, the US broke from the other six nations in a joint statement issued at the summit’s conclusion, saying America was reviewing its climate policies while the other G-7 members remain committed to the Paris Agreement.

Climate change was among the most disputed issues separating Trump from other leaders at the two-day meeting.

A White House adviser said the president’s views were evolving on the issue, but Trump was not immediately swayed by arguments from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and others to honour the Paris Agreement, brokered in 2015 by almost 200 nations to slash fossil fuel emissions and boost funding to ease the impacts of global warming.

“The whole discussion about climate has been difficult, or rather very unsatisfactory,” Merkel told reporters after the summit. “Here we have the situation that six members, or even seven if you want to add the EU, stand against one.”

At one point, the words “Paris Agreement” were nearly excluded from the G7’s statement, underscoring how contentious the issue had become. – Bloomberg