Germany Calls Rick Perry’s Push to Rework Paris Climate Agreement ‘Absurd’

Germany fired back at Rick Perry’s criticism of Europe for not living up to its vow to fight climate change, saying the U.S. energy secretary’s suggestion to renegotiate the landmark Paris accord is “absurd.”

The 2015 global agreement to limit global warming-causing gases already lets nations adjust their own emissions targets, making it pointless for the U.S. to reopen talks in hopes of winning more favorable terms, said German environment ministry spokesman Michael Schroeren.

“That is, in the first place absurd, and secondly from the U.S. point of view completely unnecessary,” Schroeren said in a statement to Bloomberg.  “The Paris accord is a dynamic accord.  It allows signatory states much flexibility.”
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Regarding Paris
Schroeren welcomed Perry’s call for the U.S. to remain party to the Paris accord, brokered in 2015 in the French capital by more than 190 nations.

The U.S. energy secretary’s statements Tuesday marked one of the first times a member of Trump’s cabinet has made a direct public call for remaining part of the agreement.  The president, who vowed to “cancel” the agreement during the campaign, is expected to announce his decision next month, when world leaders gather for the Group of Seven summit in Italy.

Trump may deny the Paris accord’s underlying premise.  But it’s unclear what, if anything, the president wants to renegotiate about the deal itself, said Alden Meyer, who has followed climate talks for two decades as director of policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Flexible Mechanisms
“What is it that he doesn’t like about the agreement?  The fact that it lets each country set its own goals?  The fact that it requires India and China to come up to our level of reporting and transparency?  The fact that it allows flexible market mechanisms?” Meyer said.  “This really is a made-in-America agreement.”

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