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Italy says no progress at G7 on climate change row with US

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AFP Taormina
A summit of G7 leaders today failed to make progress on narrowing major differences between the United States and its partners on climate change, hosts Italy said.

With President Donald Trump still reviewing the US position, "the question of the Paris climate accord is still hanging," Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni told a news conference.

Gentiloni had gone into the summit acknowledging deep divisions but hoping for some degree of convergence on a way forward.

Trump campaigned on a pledge to ditch the United States commitment to applying the 2015 Paris deal, which seeks to curb global warming by cutting carbon emissions.
 

He has yet to act on the threat, having said he would listen to what US partners have to say before making a decision on how to proceed.

The stalemate on climate change was mirrored by divisions between the US and the other six G7 countries over trade and migration at the annual summit, described by officials as the toughest in years.

The meeting is due to conclude on Saturday with a final statement which Italian officials have indicated will be a fifth of the originally planned length -- if it can be agreed at all.

Officials were due to work through the night in an attempt to reach a compromise on the text.

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First Published: May 26 2017 | 10:42 PM IST

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