Pope pleads with Merkel to fight for climate deal
POPE Francis has asked Germany to keep fighting for the Paris climate change deal and to “tear down walls” that inhibit international co-operation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday the pontiff is highlighting a stark contrast between her agenda and US policy.
US President Donald Trump announced this month he would withdraw from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change.
BATTLE
Speaking after an unusually long 40-minute private audience, Mrs Merkel said: “The Pope encouraged me to continue and fight for international agreements, including the Paris Agreement.”
Mrs Merkel, who faces elections in September, said the Pope expressed his support for the agenda of the G20 major economies, who hold a summit in Hamburg next month.
She said: “This [G20] agenda assumes that we are a part of a world in which we work together through multilateral co-operation.
“It is a world in which we want to tear down walls and not build them, and in which we all seek prosperity, wealth, honour and dignity for mankind.”