AFP, Paris

Environment ministers from G7 nations yesterday launched a two-day meeting in Paris, with climate change kept off the agenda to avoid a row with the United States.

The office of France’s ecology minister Monique Barbut had said the Group of Seven would focus on “less contentious issues” to appease its largest and most powerful member, drawing criticism from activists.

Barbut said the G7 “must remain a forum for convergence” and France as host was prioritising unity at a time when environmental protection was slipping down the global agenda.

“I hope we can send a strong message of unity and ambition”, Barbut said at the opening of the meeting.

Italy, Canada, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom sent their environment ministers to Paris, but Washington dispatched Usha-Maria Turner, an assistant administrator at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Ocean conservation, funding for biodiversity, and the transformation of dry areas into desert are on the agenda, among other broad environmental themes.

President Donald Trump’s administration has withdrawn the United States from global agreements on climate change and weakened environmental protections since he returned to office in 2025.