Posted on 11/09/2016 10:48:33 AM PST by Bubba_Leroy
Marrakesh (Morocco) (AFP) - Stunned participants at UN climate talks in Marrakesh insisted Wednesday that climate change denier Donald Trump cannot derail the global shift to clean energy, although some called his victory in US presidential elections a "disaster".
Trump "cannot prevent the implementation" of the landmark Paris pact, inked in the French capital last December, said Segolene Royal, France's environment minister and outgoing head of the UN climate forum.
"As I speak, 103 countries representing 70 percent of (greenhouse gas) emissions have ratified it, and he cannot -- contrary to his assertions -- undo the Paris Agreement," she told French radio station RTL.
Trump has described global warming as a "hoax" perpetrated by the Chinese government, and has said at different times that he would "renegotiate" or "cancel" the 196-nation deal.
Royal noted that under the terms of the agreement, the United States must wait at least three years before seeking to withdraw.
UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa congratulated Trump on his victory in a statement.
"We look forward to engaging with his administration to take the climate action agenda forward for the benefit of the peoples of the globe," she said.
Diplomats and business leaders invested in moving the global economy from fossil fuels to renewables hope the gathering momentum of that transition will carry the United States with it, regardless of Trump's views.
"President-elect Donald Trump has been the source of a lot of bluster on climate change over the last year," said Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands, whose nation is slowly disappearing under the waves.
"But now that the election campaign has passed," Heine added in her statement, "I expect he will realise that climate change is a threat to his people and to whole countries which share seas with the US, including my own."
France's top climate negotiator Laurence Tubiana said that Trump could not defy science.
"The laws of physics are the laws of physics, and the reality of climate change is not going to change because of the US elections," she told AFP.
- Back to being a climate villain? -
America is the world's second-largest greenhouse gas polluter after China, representing some 13 percent of emissions.
Trump's threats, if carried out, would recast the United States as a climate villain, which is how it was widely perceived after George W. Bush refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in 2001.
The Obama administration has been an ardent champion of the Paris Agreement, a role Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, had vowed to continue.
Some green groups were far less diplomatic in their reaction to the surprise outcome of the US vote.
"Trump's election is a disaster, but it cannot be the end of the international climate process," said May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, a global group pushing for divestment from fossil fuels.
"Our work becomes much harder now, but it's not impossible, and we refuse to give up hope."
The business community echoed diplomats, suggesting that a Trump administration will stay in line with international efforts as a matter of national interest.
"He wants to make America great again," said We Mean Business, a coalition of several thousand companies and investors.
"Climate action provides the basis for new jobs and enhanced competitiveness in the industries of tomorrow," it said in a statement, noting that the sector employs 2.5 million in the US.
Legal experts consulted by AFP said Trump would have three options if he sought to unwind the US role in the UN climate process.
With one year's notice, he could withdraw the United States from the bedrock 1992 climate convention, and in so doing sever the US tie to the Paris pact.
Secondly, the Paris agreement itself makes provision for parties to withdraw from it, but notice can only be given three years after its entry into force, which came last Friday.
Finally, he could abandon or ignore the US's national emissions reduction targets, which contribute to the overall international effort.
Wrong!
Did Obama get a treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate? Nope. That makes it nothing more than an Obama wish list with the same value and enforceability as toilet paper.
I voted for Trump because of two issues. This is one of them. The other is Obamacare. If we can get those two takeaways in four years, I’ll be elated.
If we can get the country on the same page regarding who can use the bathrooms, that will be a bonus.
Gravy Train coming to an end!
What global shift to clean energy? No one can afford it, not even the US. Andf by the time it is financially possible, we’d all be dead anyway from it’s effects.
red
They are free to implement it any way they want. We won't be implementing.. And, by the way, we may take this into account when you come with your hand out.
Oooh, no. I use toilet paper. Far more valuable.
Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda cool.
Yeah....sure he can’t. [/s]
At least toilet paper is useful...
“the United States must wait at least three years before seeking to withdraw.”
Why? It is not a treaty, never ratified by the senate. It was signed as an executive decree, and as such the next President can “executive decree” it away.
If other countries want to invest billions in windmills and carbon credits, by all means, please do.
Better to help bring manufacturing back to America.
I hope Trump embraces the Paris deal. He should say even though it’s not ratified he will honor Obama’s agreement to implement it. Then has does the 2 things it requires of him
1) Publish carbon goals for the US. Something like we will keep carbon emissions under 100x 2016 level through 2030.
2) Report on progress every year (or 3 years?). Something like “our target was 100x 2016 levels and we are significantly under our target at 1.1x 2016 levels. Almost 2 orders of magnitude below our goals.”
Then maybe the warmists will see how ridiculous the agreement was. It was to make the participants look good, not to change anything. We can literally make a goal of not increasing emissions by more than 10,000% and meet our obligation. See if warmists still think it’s a “ladmark pact”.
I want to Trump to burn a copy of this treaty on camera on the White House lawn!
Needless to say, if any US dollars are contributing to any of this garbage that will need to stop.
Like the Iranian nuke deal these climate change deals are 100% backed solely and only by Obama’s word. Without Senate approval it’s his deal and not the nation’s.
Trump has cured Gorebal Warning!
That applies to virtually everything that Obama enacted during the entire 8 years of Obamanation. Even Obamacare relies on countless executive orders and regulations (such as requiring that all health insurance policies cover birth control, abortions and sex change operations), all of which can be wiped away on the first day of Trump's presidency.
Hey, I’m all for “clean” energy too. But carbon dioxide is NOT A POLLUTANT you d%mn fools!
But can Mme Royal even begin to explain what the laws of physics have to do with a socialist wealth-redistribution scam?
Like you said. It was not a ratified agreement, so sorry.
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