U.S. opts out of G-7 pledge on emissions

The United States refused Monday to sign on to a Group of Seven pledge that calls the Paris climate accord the “irreversible” global tool to address climate change.

The G-7 environment ministers issued a final communique Monday after their twoday meeting in Italy, the first since the United States announced it was withdrawing from the Paris climate pact. In a footnote to the communique, the United States said it wouldn’t join with the other six countries in reaffirming their Paris commitments, but said it was taking action on its own to reduce its carbon footprint.

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, had attended the first few hours of the summit Sunday, but then left to attend a Cabinet meeting in Washington.

Presenting the communique Monday, Italy’s environment minister, Gian Luca Galletti, called the Paris accord “irreversible, non-negotiable and the only instrument possible to combat climate change.” He said the other G-7 countries hoped to continue “constructive dialogue” with the U.S., but insisted on the Paris parameters.

The 2015 Paris agreement aims to prevent the Earth from heating up by any more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the start of the industrial age. Since the world has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit), the accord aims to ensure the threshold is not breached, with each nation setting goals to curb heat-trapping emissions.

President Trump announced the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris accord earlier this month, framing it as a “reassertion of America’s sovereignty.”