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'No backsliding' on Paris agreement despite Trump move - Juncker

Updated / Saturday, 3 Jun 2017 09:26
The US is joining Nicaragua and Syria as the only countries outside the Paris agreement
The US is joining Nicaragua and Syria as the only countries outside the Paris agreement

China and the European Union are sending the world a signal there can be "no backsliding" on the Paris climate pact, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said after the US pullout from the landmark deal.

"Our joint leadership provides business, investors and researchers both in Europe and China and throughout the world the certainty they need to build a global low carbon economy," Mr Juncker said as he opened trade and climate talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Brussels.

"And it makes a statement to the world: there is no reverse gear to the energy transition, there is no backsliding on the Paris agreement," Mr Juncker added.

In his speech, Mr Li said: "We need to uphold rules, especially multilateral rules. In this world we will be in a jungle without rules. China always upholds multilateral rules, including WTO rules."

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said her government would uphold the climate pact, adding it was "a responsibility shouldered by China as a responsible major country".

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President Donald Trump announced last night that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, prompting a furious global backlash and throwing efforts to slow global warming into doubt.

In a sharply nationalistic address from the White House Rose Garden, Mr Trump announced his administration would immediately stop implementing the "bad" 195-nation accord.

Mr Juncker, Mr Li and European Council President Donald Tusk are vowing to forge ahead with the Paris agreement without the US.

Mr Juncker denounced as "seriously wrong" Mr Trump's plan pull out of the deal that his predecessor Barack Obama and Chinese leaders had been instrumental in brokering.

EU commissioner for climate action and energy Miguel Arias Canete pledged continued "global leadership" on climate change.

Mr Trump's "announcement has galvanised us rather than weakened us, and this vacuum will be filled by new broad committed leadership," Mr Canete said.

"Europe and its strong partners all around the world are ready to lead the way," the Spanish commissioner said on the eve of the summit.

'Make our planet great again'

French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, has said Mr Trump had made a historic error, and urged frustrated US climate scientists and entrepreneurs to come and work in France.

Adapting the nationalist slogan used by Mr Trump on his election campaign trail, Mr Macron urged defenders of the climate to "make our planet great again".

In a TV address broadcast both in French and English, Mr Macron said he respected Mr Trump's decision, "but I do think it is an actual mistake both for the US and for our planet".

"Climate change is one of the major issues of our time. It is already changing our daily lives but it is global," Mr Macron said.

"Everyone is impacted and if we do nothing our children will know a world of migrations, of wars of shortage, a dangerous world, it is not the future we want for ourselves, it is not the future we want for our children, it is not the future we want for our world."

Referring to Mr Trump's idea of redrawing the 2015 accord, he said, in the French version, "we will not in any way renegotiate an agreement that is less ambitious" than the present one.

"I reaffirm clearly that the Paris Agreement remains irreversible and will be implemented not just by France but by all the other nations," Mr Macron vowed.

He added: "To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the president the United States, I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland.

"I call on them, come and work here with us, to work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment."

Mr Macron said that he would move swiftly to define "a common strategy and to launch new initiatives" with France's partners.

"We will succeed because we are fully committed, because wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again," said Mr Macron, tweaking the "Make America great again" slogan promoted by Mr Trump.

Anger and regret at Trump's decision

European leaders and green groups reacted with anger and dismay to Mr Trump's announcement that the world's second biggest carbon emitter was quitting the 2015 Paris Agreement.

But they also pledged to defend the agreement and not to backtrack in the fight against climate change.

"The decision made by US President Trump amounts to turning their backs on the wisdom of humanity. I'm very disappointed... I am angry," Japanese Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto told a news conference in an unusually frank tone.

"While the US decision is disheartening, we remain inspired by the growing momentum around the world to combat climate change and transition to clean growth economies," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In India, one of the world's fastest growing major economies and a growing contributor to pollution, a top adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi vouched for intentions to switch to renewable power generation independent of the Paris accord.

Russia also voiced abiding support for the Paris accord, regardless of the US withdrawal.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed "regret" at the decision, and called for a continuation of "climate policies which preserve our world".

In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said his country should not retreat from its actions on climate.

"Let's not go backwards from the Paris Agreement," he said on Twitter. "Italy is committed to reducing emissions, to renewable energy, sustainable development."

Among environment groups, Climate Action Network, said the withdrawal "signals that the Trump Administration is in total discord with both reality and the rest of the world".

"Unfortunately, the first to suffer from this injudicious decision is the American people," the group, an alliance of climate activists, said.

"This action is totally contrary to their best interests: their health, security, food supply, jobs and future."

Friends of the Earth International said "pulling out of the Paris Agreement would make the US a rogue state on climate change. The rest of the world cannot let the US drag it down."

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