Trump: I’ll axe climate change deal
President to renegotiate terms that are ‘fair to the United States’
DONALD Trump last night provoked a global outcry by announcing that he is to lead the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The US President said the Paris accord, agreed in late 2015, had cost American jobs and put the US at a disadvantage to the rest of the world.
He said he would begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or a new deal ‘on terms that are fair’ to the US.
However, the decision prompted criticism from around the world last night.
DONALD Trump last night shattered the world’s consensus on fighting global warming by announcing 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 a global outcry, with a string of figures from Barack Obama to the mayor of Paris 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. We will start to negotiate, and we will see if we can make a deal that’s fair. If we can, that’s great. If we can’t, that’s fine.’
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 countries to reduce the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to stop the world overheating. By limiting warming to no more than 2C, it is hoped it will stop heatwaves, droughts, rising sea levels, crop failures and storms caused by the rising temperatures.
But the President questioned the effectiveness of the deal. In a characteristically combative speech 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’. But the Paris Agreement ‘hamstrings’ the US and has led to other countries ‘laughing at the US’.
Mr Trump said: ‘As President I have one obligation and that obligation is to the American people.
‘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’.
Minister for Climate Action Denis Naughten said he was ‘extremely disappointed and concerned’ at Mr Trump’s decision. ‘This is a major setback for the international community,’ he said.
Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, 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 mayor of Paris, where a landmark global climate agreement was agreed in 2015, said Mr Trump’s decision was ‘a mistake that would have dramatic consequences.’
Mayor Anne Hidalgo said: ‘That incredible diplomatic achievement could not have been secured without the decisive role of the United States of America. That is why President Trump is committing a mistake with dramatic and fatal consequences.’
Electric car pioneer Elon Musk said he was withdrawing from his roles on White House advisory councils, adding: ‘Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.’
‘Represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris’ ‘Dramatic and fatal consequences’