President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord was very aggressive, but created more momentum to act on climate change, French President Emmanuel Macron thinks. According to Macron, the withdrawal created a huge momentum for him “to create a counter-momentum.”
“So withdraw of the U.S., which for me is a mistake, that equates an impulse for a lot of others to say, “Okay, we have to react and do something, because it’s impossible to leave this all to – a sort of dismantling of the Paris Agreement.” Second, a deep wake-up call for the private sectors and some of us to say, “Wow, so we have to react.” If we decide not to move and not change our way to produce, to invest, to behave, we will be responsible for billions of victims. I don’t want to be a leader in such a situation, so let’s act right now,” Macron told CBS News.
The French President criticized Trump’s decision to leave the deal and said it was ridiculous to suggest renegotiating with more than 190 countries.
“I’m not ready to renegotiate with so many people around the table. The U.S. did sign the Paris Agreement. It’s extremely aggressive to decide on its own just to leave, and no way to push the others to renegotiate because one decided to leave the floor. I’m sorry to say that. It doesn’t fly,” Macron pointed out.
Macron also talked about Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He said that he had told Trump it would be a mistake to do that. According to the French president, such a unilateral decision “is not compliant with our international discussions and our international rules and will not facilitate a peace process.” Yet, Macron did not give a direct answer to the question whether Trump’s decision would jeopardize the peace process.
“My first concern is to preserve peace and calm in the whole region. Second, I think we have to discuss with all the parties and try to find a way out. But obviously, the reaction of the Palestinians will not be very positive. They are not in a good mood to progress towards any peace process,” Macron said.
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