PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - France wound up a meeting of G7 environment ministers on Friday defending its "pragmatic" decision to keep climate change off the agenda to avoid a clash with the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed climate change as a hoax despite scientific evidence, and has withdrawn his country from several international climate bodies.
Keeping it off the formal agenda of the Paris-hosted meeting was "a more pragmatic approach" that avoided "the risk of certain partners walking from the negotiating table," French Environment Minister Monique Barbut told reporters.
"Nobody wanted a confrontation and everyone is relieved this G7 meeting happened in good conditions. Everybody was willing to find a positive outcome and work on widely shared issues."
The talks covered issues ranging from biodiversity to water resources and ocean protection, added Barbut, whose country is the current chair of the G7 bloc of wealthy nations.
"I am happy with the outcome. I asked to look at the points of convergence," she said, citing progress on nature protection and boosting funding for biodiversity.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
