Theresa May is expected to don her best pair of metaphorical boxing gloves and confront President Trump on the issue of climate change and the Paris Accord at the G20 summit in Hamburg this weekend. The global relevance and gravity of the situation are clear as Hamburg is preparing itself for violent demonstrations.
What the hell is the Paris Accord? here’s a quick round-up:
A national pledge made by 200 countries to….
•Keep global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius, and endeavour to limit temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
•Limit greenhouse gases emitted.
•Help poorer nations by providing ‘climate finance’ to help them adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.
Last month, Trump highly controversially withdrew the US from the Paris accord. His withdrawal shows a terrifyingly short-sighted disregard for securing the future of our planet. Why would he leave? Well, he doesn’t seem to believe in climate change. He has previously commented that (scientifically proven) global warming is a myth, and has tweeted climate change scepticism 115 times. When asked whether Trump believes climate change is actually happening, aides close to the President have tellingly avoided the question. So, the leader of the Free World thinks a world-threatening issue is a hoax. Great.
Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for climate change is calling for May to “take President Trump to task” on the issue at this weekend’s summit. This call comes after criticism of May’s feeble reaction to the news of the US’s withdrawal from the vital Paris agreement. The PM had the opportunity to show a united front on this issue. However, she did not sign a letter sent by G7 EU leadersfrom Germany, France and Italy, which condemned the US’s exit from the Paris Accord.
Despite this, May now has the chance to rectify her approach this weekend by taking the strong standpoint we need her to take. A senior British government official has stated that at the summit, May will be “stressing that the UK remains fully committed to the Paris agreement. She will say that we don’t see any need for renegotiation”. Perhaps the PM needs to take this a step further and call for the US to re-sign the Paris accord. Undoubtedly, we are in a far stronger position to tackle climate change if we remain united for a common cause.
Like this? You might be interested in:
10 Reasons Why The USA Leaving The Paris Agreement Is Terrifying For Us All
Air Turbulence Is Expected To Get Much Worse Because Of Climate Change
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.