EU to Beef Up Climate Diplomacy to Save Paris Agreement

EU foreign ministers on Monday said the bloc would strengthen diplomacy to promote the fight against climate change in the face of a possible U.S. exit from the Paris agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump campaigned on promises to reverse the climate-change initiatives of his predecessor and withdraw from a Paris climate deal backed by 194 countries in late 2015 to curb global warming by cutting greenhouse gases.

European foreign ministers agreed to raise climate risk awareness among partners and aid developing countries in gaining access to sustainable energy.

The bloc pledged to "reinvigorate EU climate diplomacy... taking into account the latest developments and changing geopolitical landscape," the ministers said in a statement.

As part of that drive, EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete has traveled to Canada and plans visits to China, Iran, and India to keep alive alliances forged during Paris climate negotiations.

"We are positioning our diplomats in the EU delegations and embassies to do an aggressive outreach so that the Paris Agreement be implemented and saved," an EU official said.

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