Mayors bypass Trump to back Paris pact goals

— Kasim Reed, Mayor of Atlanta President Trump’s disappointing decision to withdraw from the agreement will actually have the opposite effect in terms of execution

President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord has triggered a bipartisan push from US mayors to stick to the emissions cuts Washington had pledged to hit

President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord has triggered a bipartisan push from US mayors to stick to the emissions cuts Washington had pledged to hit, the mayor of Atlanta said on Tuesday.

Mayor Kasim Reed said he was sending a signal of “optimism, passion and action” on fighting climate change to mayors worldwide despite the pullout Mr Trump announced this month.

“President Trump’s disappointing decision to withdraw from the agreement will actually have the opposite effect in terms of execution,” Mr Reed told in a meeting with mayors from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and North America in Brussels.

“What we did not have really was the level of cooperation, passion and intensity until we saw our President’s decision to withdraw,” Mr Reed said.

Mr Trump caused outrage when he decided to withdraw the United States, the world’s secondlargest emitter of greenhouse gases, from the 2015 accord which is meant to curb rising temperatures driven by human activity.

Mr Trump said the pact, signed by nearly 200 countries, hit the US with “draconian financial and economic burdens” while competitors got off lightly.

Mr Reed said he attended a meeting on Saturday where more than 300 US mayors from both parties pledged to honour the commitments Mr Obama agreed to in Paris.