The G7’s two-day summit in Bologna is being hosted by Italy this year, and the Italian environment minister, Gian Luca Galletti, told reporters that Trump’s EPA Director, Scott Pruitt was present for the opening of the session on climate this morning but then departed, claiming he had another commitment, reports CTV News Canada.
Pruitt was scheduled to fly back to the United States on Sunday because he has a meeting with Trump but declined to comment on the talks or how the meeting was proceeding.
The other G7 members, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Italy agreed at last month’s political summit to uphold the Paris Climate Agreement and make it work. It was a short time later that President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement. Additionally, the meeting also includes the European Union and four invited guests, Chile, Ethiopia, the Maldives, and Rwanda.
The Environmental Summit being held on Sunday and Monday is scheduled to discuss issues that include climate change, sustainable development, and litter at sea, all important issues to everyone and encompassing more than just the environment, but health and the global economy.
“Positions over the Paris accord are far apart … and will remain like that,” Galletti said on the sidelines of a meeting, reports Reuters. “The positions expressed at the beginning will undoubtedly remain as they are, but … we definitely made a step forward towards dialogue — aside from climate, there is complete agreement on all the other issues,”
Galletti and Scott Pruitt held a pre-summit meeting on Friday in which they agreed on the need to reduce food waste, according to Galletti, who added the issue was also related to the environment.
And according to Patricia Espinosa, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Pruitt told delegates in the opening session today that the United States wanted to continue making efforts in combating climate change. “He also mentioned he wants to engage with the (UN’s) Climate Change Secretariat,” she said.
As host of the G7 Environmental Summit, Italy’s agenda includes sustainable growth, green financing, Africa and the role of development banks, marine pollution, circular economy, removing environmentally harmful subsidies, and environmentally-minded tax reform, according to Xinhuanet.
