Most Read
Most Commented
Read more like this
story images
story images
mk-logo
News
EU warns Trump against quitting Paris climate deal
Published:  Jun 1, 2017 10:57 AM
Updated: 3:02 AM

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday warned US President Donald Trump against withdrawing from the Paris agreement on climate change.

"I'm a trans-Atlanticist," he said at a debate in Berlin on the future of Europe. "But if in the coming hours or days the American president said that he wanted to withdraw from the Paris Accord, it's Europe's duty to say, 'It doesn't work like that.'”

Trump is to announce his decision on the climate deal, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions, on Thursday, amid reports that he is set to pull the US out.

The White House has declined to comment on those reports, with spokesman Sean Spicer saying only that Trump would make it clear in the "next few days."

Juncker pointed out that climate change was putting 83 countries at risk of disappearing from the map as sea levels rise.

"It's not just about the future of humanity in Europe, above all it's about the future of humanity elsewhere," he said.

He also warned Trump that it might not be as easy as he thinks to withdraw from the treaty. In fact it would take Washington three to four years to pull out, he said, adding that the idea the US could simply "disappear" from the deal was incorrect.

"Not everything written in law and not everything written in international agreements is 'fake news,'" Juncker continued. "You have to stick to them."

- dpa

ADS