For two days in Paris this week, the world's wealthiest democracies gathered to discuss environmental protection. They talked about forests, oceans, and pollution, but they deliberately avoided discussing climate change. This silence was intentional.
France, which leads the G7 in 2026, removed climate from the agenda of the environment ministers' meeting that ended on Friday, April 25. The reason was the United States, which has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement under President Donald Trump. France decided that raising climate change might cause the United States to refuse to participate entirely.
Instead, ministers from France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States discussed related topics like biodiversity, ocean conservation, water pollution, and "forever chemicals" in drinking water. They made seven joint declarations, but none specifically mentioned climate change or reducing carbon emissions.
The American delegation sent only an assistant administrator from the Environmental Protection Agency, while other countries sent senior ministers. France's Minister Monique Barbut defended the decision, saying it was necessary to achieve any agreement at all.
Despite this, there was some progress. The G7 announced a new fund to support conservation in African national parks and reached agreement on tackling forever chemicals in water. Still, removing climate change from the agenda represents a significant change from previous G7 meetings, which had always addressed the issue directly.