US withdraws from Paris climate deal
Trump’s move attracts widespread criticism
The trend of green economy is irreversible and most countries, including China, would stick to their commitment despite the US retreat on climate change, Chinese experts said Friday, after US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from an agreement to fight climate change drew disappointment and criticism from world leaders and heads of US industry.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily press briefing on Friday that China is paying close attention to the US decision to quit the Paris climate agreement and called on all parties to cherish and safeguard the hard-earned accord.
Trump said at a ceremony on Thursday (US time) that the US will withdraw from the Paris agreement.
Despite Trump’s Thursday announcement, “it will take three and a half years for the US to actually withdraw from the Paris agreement,” Bai Yunwen, policy director of Beijing-based nongovernmental organization Greenovation Hub, told the Global Times. Bai said that US will cut financing for the agreement and related measures to deal with environmental problems, which means the whole world would face a tougher challenge in fighting climate change.
Trump said the US would stop payments to the UN Green Climate Fund, in which rich countries committed billions of dollars to help developing nations deal with floods, droughts and other impacts of climate change.
The White House said it would stick to UN rules on withdrawing from the pact, which require a nation to wait three years from the date the pact gained legal force on November 4, 2016, before formally seeking to leave, Reuters reported.
“China’s attitude toward emission reduction is consistent and it will further fulfill its responsibilities on the global climate governance and strengthen financial and technical cooperation with developed countries,” Duan Maosheng, an associate professor at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Friday.
“Despite the US withdrawal, most countries have pledged to fulfill their commitments and the global trend of developing a green economy has become irreversible,” Bai said.
In a joint press conference with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that China will continue to work steadfastly to implement the commitment of the Paris climate deal and join hands with all parties to tackle climate change, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.
Huge disappointment
Trump’s decision has triggered disappointment, even anger among world leaders.
The spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the action a “major disappointment.” The UN body that handles climate negotiations said the accord could not be renegotiated based on the request of a single nation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in a joint statement the agreement could not be renegotiated and urged their allies to hasten efforts to combat climate change.
Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is the incoming head of the UN Climate Change Conferences, which formalized the 2015 pact, said Trump’s decision was “deeply disappointing.”
According to a press release sent to the Global Times by the World Bank on Friday, the World Bank Group reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to tackle the climate challenge and to work with developing countries to meet their climate goals.
Business leaders as well as US citizens have also voiced exasperation with the Trump administration.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger all expressed their disappointment on Trump’s move.
US billionaire Michael Bloomberg has offered $15 million to UN efforts to tackle climate change.