29 May, 2017
The final communique released Saturday after a the Group of Seven (G7) countries summit gave its backing to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change - with the conspicuous exception of the United States, which said it would take more time to make a decision.
At this weekend's G7 Summit in Sicily, European Union officials and the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement.
Under Trump, who once called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and wants to boost the U.S. coal industry, Washington has resisted intense pressure from its partners to commit to respecting the global 2015 accord on curbing carbon emissions.
USA officials said he had enjoyed "robust" conversations with his allies in Sicily and had also learnt a lot - especially in the debate on climate change, which he has previously dismissed as a hoax.
Tearfund's Head of Advocacy, Paul Cook, said: "While Tearfund welcomes the continued strong commitment from six of the Heads of State, to tackle climate change, we are disappointed that the United States could not reach a consensus".
"Donald Trump should have learned this week that breaking our commitments under the Paris Agreement would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States", Sierra Club Global Climate Policy Director John Coequyt said in a statement.
European Union nations are eager for a clear USA pledge "to fight all forms of protectionism", said the diplomat, who declined to be named.
The uncertainty over his position on the Paris agreement puts him at odds with other members of the G7.
"He came here to learn, he came here to get smarter and he came here to hear people's views".
Although he Tweeted that he would make a decision next week, his reluctance to embrace the first legally binding global climate deal that was signed by 195 countries has annoyed German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly referred to the Paris deal as a jobs killer. Members of his administration, meanwhile, are deadlocked on the issue.
Meyer said many US states, cities, and companies are moving forward on climate action while the Trump administration is "waffling" on the Paris Agreement.
The G7 countries are: Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the USA, and the UK.
The Paris Agreement is broader than any previous climate accord.
But Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), one of Trump's energy advisers and a fossil fuel industry ally, recently said that the USA should remain in the Paris Agreement in order to keep a seat at the global table and renegotiate the accord's provisions. It calls for reducing pollution in hopes of limiting global warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above temperatures at the outset of the industrial revolution.
Gary D. Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, insisted that the other countries understood Trump's refusal to make a decision on the accord, even if they did not support it.
Earlier Saturday, he joined other leaders of G7 nations for a group photo.
