At climate talks in Marrakesh, Morocco, leaders from France and the United Nations urged President-elect Donald Trump to rethink his promise to back out of the Paris Agreement, reports Reuters. Trump has said he wants to cancel the U.S. commitment to the treaty, which aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“French President Francois Hollande, addressing almost 200 nations meeting in Morocco on ways to slow global warming, said that inaction would be ‘disastrous for future generations and it would be dangerous for peace,'” says Reuters.
“The United States, the largest economic power in the world, the second largest greenhouse gas emitter, must respect the commitments it has undertaken,” Hollande said, calling the agreement “irreversible.”
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Trump, as a “very successful business person,” would appreciate the market forces pushing the economy toward cheaper solar and wind power and away from fossil fuels. Ban said he had talked to Trump over the phone and expects to meet with him soon.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also addressed the conference. Without referring to Trump specifically, he said, “No one has the right to make decisions that affect billions of people based solely on ideology or without proper input.”
Kerry tried to reassure the delegates in attendance that the U.S. would follow through on its promise to cut nationwide emissions by 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. “I can tell you with confidence that the United States is right now today on our way to meeting all of the international targets we have set,” Kerry said. “Because of the market decisions that are being made, I do not believe that that can or will be reversed.”