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World Awaits Trump's Decision On Climate-Change Pact
RFE/RL June 01, 2017
Governments around the world have urged the United States not to walk away from the global pact to fight climate change as the hours tick away ahead of an announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump tweeted on May 31 that he would announce his decision on whether to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Paris accord on June 1, in the Rose Garden at the White House, at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT/UTC).
Citing sources in Washington, U.S. media outlets reported that Trump is expected to pull out of the accord, which has been signed by 195 countries.
That would further strain relations with many U.S. allies and leave the United States alongside Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries not participating.
European leaders lobbied hard to try to persuade Trump at the last minute not to withdraw, and China and Russia weighed in on June 1.
Speaking in Berlin, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said that Beijing understood that the Paris accord "is a global consensus agreement and that as a big developing nation we should shoulder our international responsibility."
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying suggested that China would work with the European Union to uphold the agreement if the United States pulled out.
"No matter whether other countries' positions may change, we will continue to uphold" a model of sustainable development, Hua said.
China is the top emitter of manmade carbon-dioxide emissions, and the United States is second.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said that the deal will be less effective without "key participants" including the United states.
"President Putin signed this convention in Paris. Russia attaches great significance to it," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters.
"At the same time, it goes without saying that the effectiveness of this convention is likely to be reduced without its key participants," he said.
But Trump said on May 31 that opponents of the pact in his Republican Party and in industries such as coal, oil, and electric utilities have also been pushing hard to abandon the agreement.
"I'm hearing from a lot of people, both ways," Trump said. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump severely criticized the agreement and called global warming a hoax.
Global Pact
The pact is the first legally binding global deal to fight climate change. Virtually every country voluntarily committed to steps aimed at curbing global emissions of greenhouse gases.
The principle greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, which is generated by power plants and cars burning oil, coal, and natural gas. Scientists believe the accumulation of carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases in the atmosphere is warming the planet.
The United States under former President Barack Obama's administration had committed to reduce its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.
In Berlin, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on May 31 that European allies had tried hard to convince Trump to stay in the agreement at the Group of Seven (G7) summit last week.
He said withdrawing from the accord for the United States won't be easy and will take years. "The Americans can't just leave the climate protection agreement. Mr. Trump believes that because he doesn't know the details."
Juncker said leaders of the G7 members "tried to explain this in clear simple sentences to Mr. Trump," who attended the summit on May 26-27 in Italy, but "it looks like that attempt failed."
Word of a possible U.S. pullout from the agreement prompted expressions of criticism and derision in the European Parliament on May 31.
"Climate change is not a fairy tale. It is a tough reality which affects peoples' daily lives," European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said.
"People die or are obliged to leave their homes because of desertification, lack of water, exposure to disease, extreme weather conditions. If we don't act swiftly and boldly, the huge human and economic cost will continue to increase."
In anticipation of a U.S. withdrawal, European officials said China and the European Union will seek on June 2 to bolster the agreement by recommitting themselves to full implementation of the accord.
Business Pros And Cons
Trump, a former real-estate executive, also heard from business leaders who favor the agreement on May 31. The heads of dozens of major corporations, including ExxonMobil, Apple, Dow Chemical, Unilever, and Tesla, made appeals to stay with the accord.
Tesla's founder, Elon Musk, threatened to quit White House advisory councils the president asked him to join if Trump pulls out.
"I've done all I can to advise directly" to Trump and through others in the White House, Musk said.
But Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corp, an Ohio-based coal company and major Trump campaign donor, urged Trump to withdraw from the deal.
A pullout by the United States, the world's second-largest contributor to carbon emissions behind China, could have sweeping implications.
Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who Trump considered for secretary of state, said on Twitter that affirmation of the Paris agreement "is not only about the climate: It is also about America remaining the global leader."
The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said a decision to withdraw would be "a stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet's future."
Pelosi said Trump would be "denying scientific truths, removing safeguards that protect our health and our environment, protecting polluters and...threatening our national and global security."
But Trump has insisted that the accord costs the U.S. economy trillions of dollars and thousands of jobs, while producing few tangible benefits.
Observers say he might see a withdrawal as a way of making good on his pledge to put "America First," ahead of international obligations negotiated by his predecessors.
In his tweet on May 31, Trump wrote: "I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M.The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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