Trump's Withdrawal From Paris Agreement Will Leave U.S. 'Edged Out' by Countries Like Russia and China, Macron Says
French President Emmanuel Macron has implicitly condemned President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, describing such a move as "deplorable"—but vowed it would not derail the initiative.
Macron was in Beijing Wednesday for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to "well below" 2 C above pre-industrial levels.
The 2016 pact also said signatories would continue "pursuing efforts" for the more challenging target of 1.5 C.
Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the deal just six months after taking office. This week, the White House filed the paperwork to end its participation in the project.
After his meeting with Xi on Wednesday, Macron told journalists: "When China, the European Union, Russia—which ratified the Paris Agreements a few weeks ago—engage with firmness, the isolated choice of one or another [country] is not enough to change the course of the world," CNN reported.
He added that when countries make such choices—a clear reference to the U.S.—it "will only lead to them being edged out."
"I deplore the choices made by some others," Macron said, "but I want to see them as marginal choices."
Trump's withdrawal will make the U.S. the only nation in the world that will not be a party to the agreement. The president has claimed that the accord is designed to hobble the U.S. economy and put the country at a "permanent disadvantage."
A long-time climate change denier, Trump has consistently maligned experts, activists and fellow politicians seeking to rally the international community to fight against rapidly warming temperatures, which the vast majority of scientists conclude is a result of man-made greenhouse gases.
After their meeting, Macron and Xi published a document called the "Beijing Call for the conservation of biodiversity and climate change," in which they underscored support for the Paris deal, Politico reported.
The document described the accord as "an irreversible process and a compass for strong action on climate," noting that any future trade agreements must be compatible with its objectives.
While Trump may dismiss the initiative as too tough on the U.S. economy, others have criticized the Paris deal for being too soft on the world's major polluters.
The accord has no built-in enforcement mechanism, with nations signing up to "promises" rather than firm and binding commitments. Experts and environmentalists have also warned that even if all countries fulfilled these promises—and few are on course to do so—the impact on rising global temperatures would be negligible.
