04 June, 2017
Commodity markets were absorbing news the United States would withdraw from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, a move that fulfilled a major campaign pledge but drew condemnation from US allies. Many nations pledged to ramp up their efforts to curb global warming instead.
The immediate impact of Trump's move could be largely symbolic. He is also a UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. It's an important worldwide agreement on climate change.
In Berlin, a German political party marched outside of the US embassy.
The Paris deal "really put an extraordinary burden on the economy while allowing some countries around the world like China and India go a decade or more without any accountability for reducing C02 emissions", Pence said.
In his speech at the White House on Thursday announcing the decision to pull out of the pact, Trump said, "In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord... the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States". "This is a short-sighted and irresponsible decision, which future generations will neither forgive nor forget".
Trump's decision Thursday was applauded by some conservatives and the USA energy industry - who have argued that the deal would be a job-killing drain on the US economy.
Scientists blame manmade climate change for rising seas and increasing extreme weather.
But, Trump declared, emphasizing every word: "As of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the nonbinding Paris accord".
Fanta Coulibaly, 65, who sells vegetables in Mali's capital, Bamako, remembers when there was enough rain this time of year. We remain committed to the Paris Agreement.
Poor countries are predicted to be among the hardest hit by global warming, with some foreseeing tens of millions of "climate refugees" in coming decades. South Africa's government calls the US pullout "an abdication of global responsibility".
The German foreign office also took a swipe at the US president, who in his speech Thursday said he represented the people of Pittsburgh, not Paris.
In television interviews the morning after Trump's announcement, Vice President Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway, a top White House aide, defended Trump's decision as a reassertion of America's sovereignty.
Environmental activists in Bosnia, one of the poorest European countries, said they were anxious the Trump's move would empower global polluters.
So was opposition from environmental groups. "This (decision) is an accident our planet had been made to suffer, but it should be used to raise global awareness", he said.
"Generations from now, Americans will look back at Donald Trump's decision to leave the Paris Agreement as one of the most ignorant and risky actions ever taken by any president", said Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune in a statement.
The decision puts the United States in league with Syria and Nicaragua as the world's only non-participants in the Paris Climate Agreement. "I'm disappointed in the President's decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement".
"He must be the only person on the planet who doesn't like Paris", Hidalgo joked.
The president, however, argued the agreement had disadvantaged the U.S. "If we can't, that's fine", he said. It offers a meaningful yet flexible framework for action by all countries.
Scientists say every fraction of a degree change in average temperatures can lead to noticeable swings in local weather patterns, although consequences are hard to predict.
