Emissions impossible
Condemning Trump’s climate change disaster is too much for hopeless May
THERESA May was yesterday accused of “subservience” to Donald Trump after refusing to join EU leaders in condemning the US president’s climate change calamity.
An incensed Jeremy Corbyn made the claim after Germany, Italy and France released a joint statement regretting the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, insisting the pact “cannot be renegotiated”.
The accord, signed by 195 countries in 2015, was “irreversible” and a “vital instrument for our planet”, they added.
But Britain’s support was notable by its absence.
Labour leader Corbyn said: “Why does Theresa May not have her name on this joint statement? There can be no question of watering those commitments down – the Paris deal cannot be up for renegotiation.
“Given the chance to present a united front with our international partners, she has opted for silence and, once again, subservience to Donald Trump.”
Corbyn went on to describe Trump’s decision as “reckless and dangerous”.
But May defended her stance, saying: “We remain committed to the Paris Agreement. It’s an important international agreement on climate change.
“I made the UK’s position clear to president Trump last week at the G7 meeting, as did the other G7 leaders, and I made the position clear to president Trump last night.”
German chancellor Angela Merkel said the US decision was “extremely regrettable, and that’s putting it very mildly”.
She said Germany and others “will combine our forces more resolutely than ever… to address and tackle big challenges for humanity such as climate change”.
Merkel added: “To everyone for
whom the future of our planet is important, I say let’s continue going down this path so we’re successful for our Mother Earth.”
France said it will work with US cities and states, including California, that have broken with the president’s decision.
European Council president Donald Tusk said Trump’s move was a “big mistake”.
Russia’s president Vladimir Putin said he would not judge the US president.
He expressed support for the treaty, calling it a “very good document”, but said countries needed to consider the economic impact of industrial changes made to achieve the Paris climate goals.
He added: “One has to introduce a great modernisation of industry. You need to bring businesses forward to invest billions of dollars into the economy. But there is another side to this coin.
“One ought to think about what one should do with the labour which will be displaced out of the current production system.
“They need to be found new employment, and someone needs to think about it in advance and also to invest respective resources if we do not want them to be abandoned and go beyond the poverty level.
“Therefore, I wouldn’t judge President Trump. Maybe he thinks there’s not sufficient resources available. So this really requires consideration.”
The US will stop implementing measures to cut emissions by 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2025, and end funding for poor countries to handle climate change.
US vice-president Mike Pence claimed the Paris accord “put an extraordinary burden on the American”.
The US can give notice of withdrawal three years after the deal came into force, and leaving will take a year.
The US would be out on November 4, 2020, the day after the next presidential election.
The World Meteorological Organisation estimated that US withdrawal from the accord could add 0.3C to global temperatures by the end of the century. ●TRUMP has asked the US Supreme Court to allow his ban on visitors from six Muslim-majority nations after it was blocked in lower courts.