“One of our main demands is that any country who signs a trade agreement with EU should implement the Paris Agreement on the ground. No Paris Agreement, no trade agreement. The US knows what to expect,” states French foreign affairs minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne last week, in front of his country’s parliament.
The statement was made by Lemoyne to clarify their stand on the withdrawal of United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, noting that “The US knows what to expect.” That is, should the United States fail to return to the Paris Climate Agreement, then they should expect that there will be no trade deal.
Asserting that the Paris Climate Agreement gave unfair requirements to the United States, the nation’s leader, Donald Trump, announced his country’s withdrawal from the international agreement on June 1st of last year. “In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord,” Trump explained.
“But begin negotiations to reenter the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction on terms that are favorable to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its workers, its taxpayers. So we’re getting out. But we will start to renegotiate, and we’ll see if we can make a deal that is fair. And if we can, that’s great. And if we can’t, that’s fine.”
Seven months later, Trump tackled the suggestion of rejoining the Paris Agreement, which has a global objective of keeping earth warming to 2 degrees Celsius through targets self-imposed by individual participating countries. In a press conference, he mentioned that the US “could conceivably go back in” to the Agreement.
Lemoyne has the European Union’s support on this issue as expressed by EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who said on Twitter when asked if she agrees with Lemoyne, “Yes, Paris deal reference needed in all EU trade agreement today. In Japan agreement and will be in with Mexico and Mercosur…”
Considering also the good relationship between French and US leaders Emmanuel Macron and Trump, respectively, this declaration of EU’s support with the French parliament’s stand on US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement might finally push Trump to revisit his outlook on the Agreement.
[via CleanTechnica]
