SYDNEY: US President Donald Trump wants to stay engaged on climate change and has not abandoned the issue, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday, days after Trump announced he was quitting the Paris accord. Trump’s decision, which has been roundly denounced by the international community, was based on his belief that it “did not serve the American people”, Tillerson said in Sydney. He insisted in Sydney that his boss was “not walking away” from the issue altogether. As well as a world outcry, Trump’s decision prompted a domestic backlash, with state governors, city mayors and powerful companies already drawing up plans to meet the Paris pact’s greenhouse gas emission targets. The agreement commits signatories to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep the worldwide rise in temperatures below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times.

Source: Manila Times June 05, 2017 06:22 UTC