Fury around the world as Trump pulls US out of climate deal
‘It hamstrings our workers’
THE world’s consensus on fighting global warming was shattered last night as Donald Trump said he was pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement.
In an address from the Rose Garden at the White House, the President said he would seek to renegotiate terms that are ‘fair to the United States’.
The move caused an international outcry, with a string of figures from Barack Obama to EU leaders speaking out against the controversial decision.
Mr Trump said the Paris accord was ‘a self-inflicted major economic wound’ and argued his decision was based on a desire to put America first.
The 2015 deal has killed American jobs, would cost billions of dollars, and put the US at a huge disadvantage to the rest of the world, Mr Trump said.
He said: ‘In order to fulfil my solemn duty to the United States and its citizens, the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, but begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or a really entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States.’
The Paris accord ‘is very unfair at the highest level to the United States,’ the President added.
Signed by 195 countries, the Paris Agreement commits nations to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide to stop the world overheating. By limiting global temperatures to no more than 2C above pre-industrial times, it is hoped it will stop heatwaves, droughts, rising sea levels, crop failures and storms.
But the President questioned the impact of the deal. He said he ‘represents the citizens of Pittsburgh not Paris’, said it was ‘time to make America great again,’ and that he would make full use of America’s ‘abundant energy reserves’.
He said he ‘ cares deeply about the environment’ and the US would remain ‘the cleanest country on earth’.
But the Paris Agreement ‘hamstrings’ the US and has led to other countries ‘laughing at the US’.
Mr Trump said: ‘The Paris accord would undermine our economy, hamstring our workers, weaken our sovereignty, impose unacceptable legal risk, and put us at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world.’
He said that there were millions of citizens out of work in the US, ‘yet under the Paris accord billions of dollars that ought to be invested right here in America will be sent to the very countries that have taken our factories and jobs away from us’. Under the terms of the accord, a deal could take at least three years – lasting until November 2020 – the same month Mr Trump is up for re-election.
Only Nicaragua and Syria have failed to sign up to the agreement and all the major industrialised nations, except for Russia, have ratified it, with China and the EU set to affirm their commitment to deeper action on Friday.
Former president Mr Obama, who signed the US up to the deal, said in a statement: ‘Even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.’
The EU’s commissioner for climate action, Miguel Arias Canete, said: ‘Today is a sad day for the global community, as a key partner turns its back on the fight against climate change. The EU deeply regrets the unilateral decision by the Trump administration.’
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the decision was a ‘disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security’.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a five-minute phone call to Mr Trump last night. A source said: ‘Mr Macron said noth- ing was renegotiable with regard to the Paris accord. The United States and France will continue to work together, but not on the subject of climate.’
Italy, France and Germany dismissed the President’s suggestion that the global pact could be revised. In a joint statement, they said: ‘We firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated, since it is a vital instrument for our planet.’
John Sauven, of Greenpeace UK, reacted with anger, saying: ‘The government that launched the Apollo space programme and helped found the UN has today turned its back on science and international co-operation.’