WHY are global leaders up in arms over Donald Trump?
WASHINGTON—
Global anger greeted US President Donald Trump’s decision to junk the landmark 2015 Paris agreement to fight climate change.
Trump’s announcement also signaled an abdication by the United States of its leadership in the international campaign to keep greenhouse gases, largely blamed on human activity, from further wreaking havoc on the environment.
It also makes the US the third country to reject the Paris accord after Nicaragua and Syria.
“We’re getting out,” said Trump, who described climate change as a hoax, during his announcement at the Rose Garden of the White House.
Pittsburgh not Trump’s
Justifying his decision, Trump said the Paris accord would undermine the US economy, cost US jobs, weaken sovereignty and disadvantage the US.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” said Trump. Just as quickly, however, the mayor of Pittsburgh announced his city was not going the way of Trump.
“As the mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris agreement,” Mayor Bill Peduto, a Democrat, tweeted in a swift, widely read retort to Trump’s move.
At the Rose Garden, Trump justified his decision by saying the accord did not put “America first.”
“We don’t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us any more. And they won’t be,” Trump said.
But world leaders are far from laughing.
A Philippine senator and environmental advocate, Loren Legarda, said Trump’s decision “reeked of ignorance.” In a statement, the Philippine Climate Change Commission said it was “deeply troubled” by Trump’s decision.
Koichi Yamamoto, Japan’s environment minister, said it amounted to “turning their backs on the wisdom of humanity.” “I amangry,” Yamamoto said.
Three European leaders— German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni—said in a rare joint statement that the agreement could not be renegotiated.
It was in apparent reaction to Trump’s statement that he would renegotiate the terms of the Paris accord to get a better deal for the US.
The three European leaders urged allies to set aside Trump and hasten efforts to combat climate change and pledged to do more to help developing countries adapt.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Trump’s decision was “disheartening” but inspires a “growing momentum around the world to combat climate change.”
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, speaking in Singapore, also called Trump’s decision “disappointing but not at all surprising.” Turnbull said Australia remained committed to the accord.
Hours ahead of Trump’s announcement, China’s Premier Li Keqiang pledged to stay the course on implementing the climate accord in a joint press conference with Merkel and urged other countries to do likewise.
China has been investing billions of dollars in clean energy infrastructure, as it battles to clear up the choking pollution enveloping its cities.
On Friday the official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary that Trump’s announcement came “to the regret of almost all” although it was “anything but a surprise.”
‘Morally criminal’
Trump’s decision left the leadership on climate open to “other major players” like European Union, China and India, Xinhua said.
China and the US are responsible for some 40 percent of the world’s emissions and experts had warned it was vital for both to remain in the Paris agreement if it was to succeed.
The leader of Asia’s other behemoth, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is due to visit the White House, had said failing to act on climate change would be “morally criminal.”
Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is the incoming head of the UN Climate Change Conferences, which formalized the 2015 Paris accord, said Trump’s decision was “deeply disappointing.”
Fiji, like many other small island nations, is seen as particularly vulnerable to global warming and a possible rise in ocean levels as a result of melting polar ice.
The United States was one of 195 nations that agreed to the accord in December 2015. Under the pact, which was years in the making, countries both rich and poor committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases generated by burning fossils fuels and blamed by scientists for warming the planet.
Trump, however, said nations supporting the accord, which was approved by 195 countries, were the same ones that “have collectively cost America trillions of dollars through tough trade practices and in many cases lax contributions to our critical military alliance.”