| French President Emmanuel Macron poses for a family picture after holding consultative talks ahead of the Biarritz G7 summit, at the Elysee Palace in Pari |
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that he would put pressure on the United States to sign a charter on protecting biodiversity at the G7 summit in Biarritz, France this weekend.
“We have talked about diversity. It is for the first time, at this G7, that we will sign a charter for biodiversity, we are committed to this, it will be signed by all,” he said in an interview with news website Konbini in the garden of his Elysee palace.
Asked whether this would include the United States, Macron said: “That is the real question, we will see, I will put pressure.”
“It will be signed by India, which is also very important,” he added.
Macron said that climate, global warming and biodiversity would be at the heart of the G7 meeting but he also called on individual citizens to live and consume responsibly.
“We are all co-responsible for this, in the choices we make when we buy clothing and food, in our everyday behaviour when it comes to sorting (and recycling). The G7 is one thing, but our daily life is just as important,” he said.
In May, after meeting scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Macron said he would bring up the issue of biodiversity in talks within the G7.
He said at the time that his government would seek to increase the size of natural areas under protection and take tax and budget measures to support biodiversity. He added that he also wants the European Union to encourage financing of sustainable crops as part of its common agriculture policy.
IPBES – which groups 130 countries, including the United States, Russia and China – said in a report released in May that one million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction due to humans’ relentless pursuit of economic growth.
REUTERS