UN climate chief warns Trump not to pull out of Paris accord
The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, has warned United States President Donald Trump not to pull out of the Paris climate accord adopted by more than 195 nations in Paris, France in December 2015.
During the election campaign, Trump repeatedly called for a renegotiation of the UN accord, whose aim is to keep global temperature increases well below 2 degrees Celsius by transforming the global economy away from fossil fuels this century.
“Ultimately, this is about the competitiveness of the United States,” Espinosa, a former foreign minister who heads the Bonn-based UN Climate Change Secretariat, told dpa in an interview.
“We do not know what he will do – all we know so far is that his stance differs from that of the Obama administration,” Espinosa said.
The hard-won accord reached by some 195 nations in December 2015 is viewed sceptically by Trump, who has indicated that climate change is a hoax and said environmental regulations were “out of control” at a recent meeting with US carmakers.
The Paris Agreement enters into force on November 4, 2016 after 55 Parties ratified the accord. As at the weekend, more than 126 countries have ratified the accord.
