Donald Trump ‘to pull out of major global climate change agreement’
Donald Trump has told ‘confidants’ that he plans to pull out of a major international climate change agreement.
Reportedly speaking to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency in the US, he said the country would drop its commitment to the Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2015 under Barack Obama.
On Saturday, the president tweeted saying he would make a decision next week on whether to support the climate deal.
A source who has been in contact with people involved in the decision said that a couple of meetings were planned with chief executives of energy companies, big corporations and others about the climate agreement, ahead of the expected announcement.
‘I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!’ Trump tweeted on the final day of a G7 summit in Italy, at which he refused to bow to pressure from allies to back the landmark agreement.
He was pitted against the leaders of Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan on several issues, with European diplomats frustrated at having to revisit questions they thought had been long settled.
Trump, who has previously called global warming a hoax, came under concerted pressure from the other leaders to honour the agreement on curbing carbon emissions.
Although he promised to make a decision next week, his apparent reluctance to embrace the first legally binding global climate deal clearly annoyed German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
‘The entire discussion about climate was very difficult, if not to say very dissatisfying, she told reporters.
‘There are no indications whether the United States will stay in the Paris Agreement or not.’
If the US pulls out of the agreement, which was signed by 195 countries in December 2015, it could have disastrous consequences for global climate change.