Ban Ki-moon: US has caused serious damage to Paris climate efforts

Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris agreement has created serious problems for global efforts to tackle climate change, Ban Ki-moon has said.

The former UN secretary general said Trump’s move was politically damaging to international action to limit carbon emissions and had created difficulties in delivering financial aid from richer to poorer countries to help the latter cope with a warming world.

“United States is a big problem now. I think the United States’ decision to withdraw from this Paris agreement really creates a serious problem,” Ban said in an interview with the Guardian.

“They [the Trump administration] have given serious damage to the political side. All the countries are very serious and concerned about this [the US declaring its withdrawal from the climate deal].”

Although Trump indicated in a recent interview that the US may not leave the global accord, Ban said the remarks were not clear. He said the apparent shift in position may have been the result of lobbying from European leaders such as the French president, Emmanuel Macron.


Source : theguardian