Macron zings Trump over climate change
French president lauds ‘solar mamas’ group for advocating Paris accord
French President Emmanuel Macron took a jibe at U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday for his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. Macron did not name Trump while speaking at the first meeting of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi. But while hailing the “solar mamas,” a group of women trained as solar engineers, he said the women had continued their mission to promote solar energy even after “some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement.”
Trump announced last June that the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris accord, which aims to slow the rise in global temperature by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
At a separate weekend event in India, former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton also regretted Trump’s decision.
“It is shameful that the U.S. is the only country in the world that is not in the Paris Agreement,” Clinton said Saturday in Mumbai, at a conference by the India Today media group.
Heads and ministers of dozens of countries participated in Sunday’s solar meeting, cohosted by India and France.
The International Solar Alliance is a treaty-based international body for the promotion of efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It was launched by India and France on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.
“Today is a big change,” Macron said at the meeting. “Our solar mamas, who we just listened to, didn’t wait for us. They started to act and to deliver concrete results. They didn’t wait and they didn’t stop because some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement.”
India and France called for affordable solar technology and concessional finance for promoting solar energy.