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Donald Trump confronts the 6 G7 powers with his refusal to endorse global climate change accord

G7 summit ends with split between Donald Trump, other leaders on climate change, ABC News, 28 May 17 Under pressure from allies, US President Donald Trump has backed a pledge to fight protectionism, but refused to endorse a global climate change accord, saying he needed more time to decide.

The summit of Group of Seven wealthy nations pitted Mr Trump against the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan on several issues, with European diplomats frustrated at having to revisit questions they hoped were long settled.

Mr Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, tweeted that he would make a decision next week on whether to back the 2015 Paris Agreement on curbing carbon emissions following lengthy discussions with G7 partners.

“The entire discussion about climate was very difficult, if not to say very dissatisfying,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters.

“There are no indications whether the United States will stay in the Paris Agreement or not.”………

Security questions dominated initial G7 discussion on Friday and the leaders called on internet service providers and social media firms to “substantially increase” their efforts to rein in extremist content.

US officials said Mr Trump had enjoyed “robust” conversations with his allies in Sicily and had also learnt a lot — especially in the debate on climate change.

“He came here to learn. He came here to get smart. His views are evolving, exactly as they should be,” Mr Trump’s economic adviser Gary Cohn said on Friday. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-28/g7-leaders-end-summit-split-on-climate-change/8566044

May 29, 2017 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | climate change, politics international, USA