Trump set to decide on Paris deal
WORLDWIDE EFFECTS Withdrawal will not unravel accord but can weaken global efforts to fight climate change
WASHINGTON: US president Donald Trump has said he will announce his decision on the Paris Accord on Thursday, ending a guessing game he had triggered weeks ago all over the world with a declaration to his supporters at a rally commemorating 100 days in office. But he did not give any indication which way he will go.
“I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M. The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the president tweeted on Wednesday, hours after daylong speculation about his decision.
Trump is widely expected to pull the US out of the Paris Accord that conservatives have hated dogmatically.
But he is known to change his mind at the last minute.
Axios news media outlet on Wednesday reported Trump was quitting the accord and environment protection agency administrator Scott Pruitt and his team were working on the modalities of the withdrawal.
They were looking at two options: pull out of the Paris Accord, a process that could take three years to complete, or exit the UN treaty behind agreement — the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — which might be a lot quicker.
Leaving the G-7 summit last week, where he had come under pressure to stay, Trump had said he would announce his “final decision” in the coming days. But there was no official confirmation or denial of the reports, except his tweet.
Trump, a global warming sceptic, has been critical of the accord, saying it would be harmful for America’s manufacturing and that other nations were not doing enough for miti- gation of greenhouse gas emissions.
US withdrawal will not unravel the accord but could weaken the global effort significantly with the world’s largest economy out of it.
The treaty was signed by 195 entities, including India, in Paris in December 2016 and went into effect last November.
US EMBASSY IN ISRAEL TO STAY IN TEL AVIV
Trump signed an order keeping the US embassy in Tel Aviv rather than move it to Jerusalem as he promised during last year’s campaign, aides said on Thursday, disappointing many Israel supporters in hopes of preserving his chances of negoti ating a peace settlement.
Aides said the decision was just a delay and Trump still plans to eventually move the embassy to Jerusalem when conditions are right. The White House said in a statement that Trump’s move should not be considered “a retreat from the president’s strong support for Israel” and its alliance with the United States.