G20 becomes G19-plus-1 as Trump holds out on climate change deal
PRESIDENT Donald Trump defied other world leaders over climate change last night as he refused to renege on his decision to leave the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Trump had hoped that some of the other members of the G20, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, would be tempted to join him by walking away from the Paris accord, brokered by the United Nations in 2015.
Theresa May said she was “dismayed” by his decision to pull out of the agreement, and had tried to persuade him to rejoin the deal during conversations at the summit in Hamburg. After he refused to do so, the other G20 countries issued a commu- niqué, drawn up with the help of Mrs May, stating that the Paris Agreement was “irreversible”, while the US conceded that emissions must be reduced. And the final version had to contain separate paragraphs setting out the positions of the US and the rest of the G20.
Last month, the president announced America had withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, but said he intended to negotiate a re-entry or an entirely new accord “on terms that are fair to the United States”. Instead, Mr Trump said America would seek its own alternative path to cleaner energy.
Diplomats from the G20 nations worked through the night on Friday in an attempt to agree the wording of the climate change section of the final summit communiqué. It said: “We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The United States of Amer- ica … affirms its strong commitment to an approach that lowers emissions while supporting economic growth and improving energy security needs. The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible.”
Other G20 leaders were quick to distance themselves from a paragraph put in at Mr Trump’s insistence, saying the US would work with others to “help them use fossil fuels more cleanly”.
Mrs May was asked whether the G20 had actually been a “G19 plus one” with Mr Trump standing alone on climate change and trade.
At one point during the talks, French president Emmanuel Macron pulled out his mobile phone and waved it around as he forcefully made the point that a phone bought by a Frenchman in the US but made in China showed the nature of global trade and the need to avoid protectionism. Mrs May said that “I was very clear I want global Britain to be one of the great advocates for free trade around the world”.
It emerged last night that Mrs May helped broker an 11th hour agreement on the wording of the climate change section of the communiqué amid genuine concerns that the entire document was going to be delayed.
President Macron asked Mrs May to step out of a meeting, together with Mr Trump and Australia’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and join him in a side room to thrash out the wording.
A diplomatic source said: “There was concern that not being able to agree the language on the Paris agreement could hold up the whole summit communiqué.
“President Macron asked Mrs May to step outside with him, Mr Trump and Mr Turnbull to agree a form of words which allowed the 19 to express their support for Paris in the strongest possible terms, with the US stating its own position. This was done.” Angela Merkel, who pledged in advance as host that the summit would defend the Paris agreement, admitted the talks had been “difficult”.
The German chancellor repeated her mantra that “Europe must take its fate into its own hands” – something she first said after meeting with Mr Trump at the G7 in Italy.
“I can only call things as they are,” she said. “There are certain areas where we have achieved good results, but I don’t want to hide from you that things are still very difficult on trade. I can’t make any predictions about what will happen tomorrow or the day after.”
Mrs Merkel was left defending her decision to hold the G20 in a major city centre after a second night of riots saw an entire neighbourhood under the control of anti-capitalist protesters for several hours.
Residents of Schanzenviertel, just outside the summit venue, were left to fend for themselves as protesters looted and torched shops, including a supermarket and several international clothing stores.
Police said they had intelligence anti-capitalists were lying in wait to ambush them with broken paving slabs and Molotov cocktails from the roofs, and it was too risky for officers to enter. “There was a considerable risk to the lives of police officers. We did not want to go in unprepared and fail,” Timo Zill, a police spokesman, said.
Police carried out several raids in the neighbourhood yesterday, breaking into one apartment with a battering ram. The area is known as a hard-left enclave, but Ludwig Geiss, a long-term resident, said the night was like nothing he had seen before. “I’m not staying here another night,” he told reporters.
It emerged that hours earlier a police officer had to fire a warning shot in the neighbourhood after anti-capitalists chased and attacked a local resident. More than 20,000 people took part in largely peaceful protests in the city yesterday afternoon, and Bill de Blasio, the New York mayor, was among those who addressed the crowds.
“We were aware of the peaceful protests, which remind us that many, many people out there expect results,” Mrs Merkel said.
“We have to make a very clear distinction between peaceful protest, which spurs us on and encourages us, and this sort of blind fury. It appears there were some people who have no interest in real progress, but who just want to destroy.”
Separately, Russian president Vladimir Putin hailed his first face-toface meeting with Mr Trump, saying he believes the US leader accepted his assurances that Russia did not meddle in last year’s US presidential election.
Mr Putin added that their conversation could serve as a model for improving ties between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters after the twoday G20 summit ended, Mr Putin said he and Mr Trump had a long discussion about the allegations of Russian interference in last year’s election which have dogged the Trump presidency.
The Russian leader explained that he reiterated his “well-known” position that “there are no grounds” for the allegations.
“He asked many questions on the subject, I tried to answer them all,” Mr Putin said. “It seems to me that he has taken note of that and agreed, but it’s better to ask him about his attitude.”
‘The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible’
‘It appears there were some people who have no interest in real progress, but who just want to destroy’