Kerry, an architect of the Paris climate agreement, said during a visit to Oslo that many U.S. companies, states and cities were pushing ahead with restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions despite Trump's pro-coal policies.
"We will meet the Paris standards, I believe, in the United States," he told a news conference. "So I want people not to be dismayed." Trump's June 1 announcement angered many governments after almost two decades negotiating the 195-nation pact.
Trump has sometimes dismissed man-made climate change as a hoax even though a U.N. panel of leading scientists says it is at least 95 percent probable that man-made emissions were the main cause of warming since the 1950s.
Kerry noted that the formal withdrawal process from the Paris Agreement will last four years from the date it entered into force, on Nov. 4, 2016. Any new U.S. administration could rejoin within 30 days, Kerry said.
The Paris Agreement seeks to limit warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times to avert effects including disruptions to food and water supplies from heatwaves, floods, and rising sea levels.
"The majority of the people in the United States are deeply committed to the Paris Agreement," Kerry said. Trump says the deal will cost U.S. jobs and harm the economy.
President Barack Obama's voluntary U.S. target under the Paris Agreement was to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, partly by restricting coal-fired power plants.
Read more at Kerry Says U.S. Climate Goals in Reach Despite Trump Paris Pullout
No comments:
Post a Comment