Majority of world leaders have criticised US President, Donald Trump for his withdrawal of the country from the Paris Climate Agreement which seeks a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming.
The move has been described variously as harmful, a mistake, a disppointment and even shameful.
Majority of world leaders have criticised US President, Donald Trump for his withdrawal of the country from the Paris Climate Agreement which seeks a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming.
The UN in a reaction shortly after Trump announced the withdrawal, said it was a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, told the media at the UN Headquarters in New York, Thursday, that “the Paris Agreement was adopted by all the world's nations in 2015 because they recognise the immense harm that climate change is already causing and the enormous opportunity that climate action presents.”
The UN, which governs the Paris accord, also said the agreement was a “historic treaty” that “cannot be renegotiated based on the request of a single party.”
In a separate statement, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Executive Director Erik Solheim said the US decision to leave the Paris Agreement in no way brings an end to this unstoppable effort and that unparalleled effort to combat the “global challenge” cannot be derailed by a single political decision.
Also in a joint statement, leaders of France, Germany and Italy said “we deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies."
Reacting in an unprecedented English-language speech, French President, Emmanuel Macron called the withdrawal “mistake both for the US and for our planet.”
In an obvious reposte to Trump’s “Make America Great Again,” Macron added: "wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again."
He also urged climate change scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to go to France to continue their work, assuring that “they will find in France a second homeland.”
In Germany, a statement issued by seven Social Democratic ministers in Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right coalition government said the US "is harming itself, we Europeans and all the people of the world."
The German ministers claim "the land of the free and the home of the brave is contradicting its basic principles".
Former US President Barrack Obama also criticised Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate deal, warning that the move would see the US “reject the future.”
Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is the incoming head of the U.N. Climate Change Conferences, which formalized the 2015 pact, 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.
Key industry players, particularly in the US have also condemned the pull-out. Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive, Lloyd Blankfein wrote on Twitter: “Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world,” while Tesla Inc CEO, Elon Musk and Walt Disney CEO, Robert Iger have said they would leave White House advisory councils.
The Tesla CEO tweeted: "Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world."
Also, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said he was disappointed, adding: "Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government."
Meanwhile, three US Governors have rebelled against the withdrawal. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, California Governor Edmund Brown Jr., and Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, said they’re forming a coalition of states committed to fighting climate change.
Inslee in a statement said “While the President’s actions are a shameful rebuke to the work needed to protect our planet for our children and grandchildren, states have been and will continue to step up.”
Although Trump has indicated the US would try to re-negotiate a “better deal”, it is unlikely that the remaining 194 countries which adopted the first-ever global climate deal in 2015, will easily concede to another round of negotiations on the basis of one country’s withdrawal.
