EPA chief Scott Pruitt, who advocated U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, left Italy after a few hours of a two-day meeting of environment ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy industrialized nations. “The delegates from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K. were intending to issue a statement on a range of green issues including climate change on Monday,” said Bloomberg.
Environment ministers say that differences between the United States and other leading economies over climate change remain wide and are not likely to narrow, reported Reuters.
The EPA said that Pruitt was returning to Washington for a meeting of the Trump cabinet and that the acting assistant EPA administrator would attend the rest of the G-7 meeting in Bologna. During his time in Italy, Pruitt had “thoughtful” bilateral talks, said the EPA statement.
“Erik Solheim, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, said Pruitt’s comments at the talks had been positive,” reported Bloomberg. The wire service quoted Solheim as saying, “We need American leadership on climate, trade, and peace. If the White House is not providing that leadership, we will find that leadership in other places. Europe is now more united than ever.”