Published 13:17 IST, December 6th 2020
As Biden vows to rejoin Paris Climate Accord, Trump says only Russia & China will benefit
While Biden plans to rejoin the Paris Accord, Trump on December 5 slammed his decision and said that deal would give advantage to China and Russia
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While US President-elect Joe Biden plans to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement, outgoing President Donald Trump on December 5 slammed his decision and said that the deal would give advantage to Russia and China. Trump and his administration have repeatedly described the 2015 climate change mitigation agreement as “weak,” particularly with regard to providing incentives to polluters in India and China to lower emissions. Arguing that the agreement was detrimental to the US economy, Trump had also said that in order to fulfil his duty to America and its citizens, “We’re getting out”.
While speaking at a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, Trump reiterated his concerns and said, “The Paris Environmental Accord. I said I'm gonna get killed in this one. But we would've paid trillions and trillions of dollars. Russia has a big advantage over us, they go back to the old days when the air was very dirty, that was their standard. China doesn't kick in until 2030, we kick in immediately, and the money that wouldn't have cost us”.
Last month, Trump had also defended his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and said that the deal was “designed to kill American economy”. He said that the agreement was never meant to reduce pollution, but was made to kill the country’s jobs and economy. In his address, he further said that the carbon emission in the United States has reduced under his rule, claiming seven per cent cleaner air since he took office.
Biden’s step towards rejoining Paris Accord
Meanwhile, Biden has already nominated former US Secretary of State John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. Kerry signed the historic Paris Climate Agreement on behalf of the United States in 2015 and is expected to oversee Washington's re-entry into the international pact, from which the US formally withdrew a day after the 2020 presidential election. The Trump administration had given a one-year notice to withdraw from the accord on November 4, 2019.
Asserting that the world must come together to solve the problem of climate change, John Kerry said that the historic Paris agreement alone does not get the job done. Kerry noted that Biden has put forward a bold, transformative climate plan that lives up to the moment. While calling for the world to come together and solve the problem, Kerry said that “all nations must raise ambition together, or we will all fail, together. Failure is not an option”.
“No one should doubt the determination of the country that went to the moon, cured supposedly incurable diseases, and beat back global tyranny to win World War II. We will immediately, again, work with friends and partners to meet this challenge too,” Kerry said.
(With inputs from ANI)
(Image: AP)
13:17 IST, December 6th 2020