Trump administration pushed to strip mention of climate change from Arctic policy statement
The Trump administration sought to remove references to climate change from an international statement on Arctic policy that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to endorse next week, leading to sometimes testy negotiations over how much to emphasize an issue considered a crisis for the region.
The Arctic Council declaration is an affirmation of goals and principles among the eight Arctic nations, which meet every two years. The Trump administration’s position, at least initially, threatened a standoff in which the United States would not sign onto a statement that included climate discussion and other members would not agree to a version that left it out, according to senior diplomats and others familiar with the discussions.
The administration objected to language that, while nonbinding, could be read as a collective commitment to address the effects of climate change in the Arctic, diplomats said. One official familiar with the preparations for this year’s meeting said that at meetings last month, the United States “indicated its resistance to any mention of climate change whatsoever.”
Three officials from member states, who described the negotiations on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions, said the U.S. position appears to have softened in recent days.
“There have been challenges in the negotiations with the United States,” one of these officials said.
All three said the United States initially wanted no reference to climate change or the 2016 Paris international climate agreement in the joint statement to be issued in Finland.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-pushed-to-strip-mention-of-climate-change-from-arctic-policy-statement/2019/05/02/1dabcd5e-6c4a-11e9-8f44-e8d8bb1df986_story.html?utm_term=.3f772ee15155&wpisrc=al_news__alert-national--alert-world--alert-politics&wpmk=1