Diplomatic Cable: US Has No Plans to Renegotiate Paris Agreement

President Trump is open to “re-engagement” with the Paris climate deal “on more favorable terms”, but not seeking to re-write the text, leaked cable reveals.

Donald Trump’s administration is not trying to re-write the Paris climate deal, according to a US diplomatic cable published by Reuters on Tuesday.

The briefing note from secretary of state Rex Tillerson to embassies around the world, dated 4 August, clears up one of the lingering uncertainties around the US position.

Envoys have been instructed to quash speculation the US wants to re-open a hard-fought international consensus on tackling climate change.

“At this time, there are no plans to seek to renegotiate or amend the text of the Paris Agreement, or begin negotiations toward a new agreement,” diplomats were advised to tell their host governments.

The US will continue to take part in UN climate talks, the cable said, starting with COP23 in Bonn this November.  This is to “protect interests and ensure that decisions are not taken that would prejudice our future policy”.

Instead of “renegotiation”, the language has shifted to “potential re-engagement” with the agreement “under more favorable terms” in future.

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