The world must not allow the Paris climate deal to be “derailed” or continue to inflict irreparable damage on the environment, Chinese president Xi Jinping has said, amid fears the rise of Donald Trump could strike a body blow to the fight against global warming. Trump, who will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, has threatened to pull out of the historic Paris agreement and dismissed climate change as a Chinese “hoax” and “expensive… bullshit”. Global warning: live from the climate-change frontline as Trump becomes president Read more“The Paris agreement is a milestone in the history of climate governance. China will continue to take steps to tackle climate change and fully honor its obligations,” Xi added, according to a transcript published by Xinhua, China’s official news agency. Zhang said Beijing would stick to its climate commitments since it understood the importance of cutting deadly air pollution but argued China would not want to serve as the world’s “sole leader” on climate change.

Source: The Guardian January 19, 2017 03:05 UTC