French President Francois Hollande has urged Donald Trump, US president-elect, to respect America’s commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement.
During the election campaign, Trump promised to withdraw the US from the treaty if he was elected.
He is now seeking ways to fast track the US’s exit from the pact, according to a Reuters report.
But speaking at climate talks in Marrakech, Hollande warned that the agreement was irreversible “in law and in fact”:
“The US, the largest economic power in the world, and the second largest greenhouse gas emitter, must respect the commitments they have undertaken. It is not only their duty but in their interest as well.”
The Marrakesh meeting was organised to celebrate the Paris Climate Agreement coming in to force and to discuss how it would be implemented.
But the meeting has been derailed by Trump’s election, with delegates instead focusing on the US’s participation.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said he hoped Trump would make a “good and wise decision” to honour the US’s commitments, adding:
“The global unity around climate change once seemed to be unthinkable and now it has become unstoppable.
“I hope that President-elect Trump will really hear and understand the seriousness and urgency of addressing climate change.”
Trump once tweeted that the concept of global warming was a conspiracy orchestrated by the Chinese to make US manufacturing non-competitive.
