Paris G7 environment talks sidestep climate clash to keep US alignment

A two-day G7 environment meeting in Paris will omit climate change from its agenda to preserve unity with the United States. Delegates will focus on less contentious topics—ocean conservation, biodiversity funding, and desertification—with plans to announce about $800 million for biodiversity projects in Africa. The US will be represented by an EPA official, while activists criticize the move as weakening climate leadership ahead of a major fossil-fuel phase-out conference in Colombia.