Trump’s climate change inaction angers Germans

"Anyone who puts on national blinkers and has no view of the world around him will ultimately get lost." Angela Merkel

GERMANY: Germany stepped up its criticism of United States President Donald Trump yesterday, a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that the US and Britain were no longer ‘‘reliable partners’’.

Merkel, speaking at a conference on sustainable development in Berlin, reinforced Germany’s commitment to tackling climate change and said it was vital not to varnish over differences with allies.

The chancellor did not mention Trump by name but quoted a 1963 speech by former US president John F Kennedy in Frankfurt, where he told his audience ‘‘those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future’’.

‘‘With change comes insecurity, scepticism ... and, not infrequently, the glorification of the supposedly good old days,’’ Merkel said. ‘‘Particularly in view of the complexity of global contexts, a wish for simple answers spreads.

‘‘But anyone who puts on national blinkers and has no view of the world around him will ultimately get lost.’’

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel further stepped up the rhetoric, criticising Trump’s ‘‘short-sighted’’ policies that he said had ’’weakened the West’’.

Gabriel said that ‘‘anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones, and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at risk’’.

‘‘The short-sighted policies of the American government stand against the interests of the European Union,’’ he said. ‘‘The West has become smaller; at least it has become weaker’’.

Trump has said he will make his ‘‘final decision’’ this week on whether to withdraw the US from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s spokesman, said the chancellor was ‘‘a convinced transAtlanticist’’, and US-German relations were ‘‘a strong pillar of our foreign and security policy’’.

‘‘Precisely because they are so important, it’s right to name differences honestly,’’ he said.

The news came as British Prime Minister Theresa May said she wanted to maintain a strong partnership with the EU over security and trade, after Merkel’s suggestion that the continent could no longer completely rely on Britain.

May said it was right for the rest of the bloc to look to its future, but made it clear that Britain wanted to remain a key partner.

The Paris agreement calls for ‘‘holding the increase in the global average temperature this century to well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels’’. It has been signed by nearly 200 countries and was considered by US President Barack Obama to be a major part of his legacy.

Trump repeatedly expressed scepticism about climate change on the campaign trail last year, although he later said he had an ‘‘open mind’’ about it.

- Telegraph Group