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Former US President Barack Obama lamented over the decision of President Donald Trump to withdraw the United States from the Paris accord, saying the deal was meant to “protect the world we leave to our children.”
Accusing Trump for “rejecting the future” by pulling out of the Paris climate deal, the former president warned that the US would risk missing out on the economic benefits of being a part of the Paris agreement.
Obama’s office released the statement in the middle of Trump’s Rose Garden announcement that the US would be withdrawing from the landmark climate pact.
“The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created,” read the statement.
Adding, “This Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future.”
Obama said the US “should be at the front of the pack” when it came to lowering emissions and developing green technology.
“For the nations that committed themselves to that future, the Paris Agreement opened the floodgates for businesses, scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation on an unprecedented scale,” he said.
Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, a sweeping step that fulfils a campaign promise while seriously dampening global efforts to curb global warming.
He said the deal “hamstrings” America by giving foreign nations an “economic edge”, adding, “that’s not going to happen”.
Meanwhile, Italy, Germany and France issued a collective statement dismissing US President Donald Trump's suggestion of revising the global pact, hours after the latter decided to 'get out' from the Paris climate accord.
“We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies,” the leaders of the three countries said in a rare joint statement.
At his White House withdrawal announcement, Trump complained that the global agreement, signed by 197 countries during the previous Obama administration, was “unfair” to American workers that imposed “draconian” restrictions on the US sovereignty and domestic economic activities.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed their strongest commitment to swiftly implement the Paris accord and urged all the other partner countries “to speed up their action to combat climate change.”
“We are convinced that the implementation of the Paris Agreement offers substantial economic opportunities for prosperity and growth in our countries and on a global scale,” the three leaders said.