Addressing a volley of questions on the possibility of the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris climate treaty, U.S. climate envoy Jonathan Pershing on Monday said no decision had yet been taken.
On Sunday, sections of the media had reported that the new Donald Trump administration could seek quick ways to exit from the Paris pact by pulling out of its parent treaty, the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Such a move would keep the U.S. under President Trump part of the treaty for one year, and not for four years as envisaged earlier. The U.S. has already ratified the agreement.
Stating that he did not have information on what the new administration’s climate policy might be, Mr. Pershing said current efforts were aimed at fleshing out the transparency system under the Agreement.
“It is no longer a question of whether to accelerate efforts under the Paris Agreement, it is a question of when and how,” he said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will join the climate summit this week to stress upon the need to continue positive climate action, he said.
“The enormous momentum created during the Paris climate summit will not slow down,” he assured, adding that his colleagues from the U.S were deeply invested in seeing work progress on the treaty.
He also assured that his ability to continue on the job did not depend on which party was in power in the U.S., and that he would do his best “to convey to the new administration the importance of their actions pertaining to the Paris treaty.”
Mr. Pershing drew attention to how the price for renewable energy was dramatically falling, which was a sign that the markets were responding to the incentive to support clean energy. “US solar prices have fallen by 65 per cent since 2008,” he said.
He also pointed out that the U.S. under the Republican George Bush administration had given climate finance and that the way forward was to leverage private sector funding for climate, instead of depending on government support alone.
“The U.S. current contribution to the Green Climate Fund is around 3 billion dollars. Even if it were to pull out of climate funding, it will have only a marginal effect on the intended 100 bn dollars.”
