World leaders raise hue & cry in anger to oppose & isolate Trump
US boycotts Paris climate Change – dr. james kottoor
Time was when America said and nations of the world, especially, European, said ‘yes’ and followed. But no more! President Trump openly proclaimed his opposition and withdrew from the Paris agreement and countries one after another said a stern, firm ‘no’ and openly refused to endorse his views or follow his example.
Some of the outspoken world leaders who criticized and opposed Trump were: Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Marcon of France, Miguel Arias Cañete, the European commissioner for climate action, Li Keqiang the Chinese premier, UK Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, Prof John Schellnhuber, a climate scientist and former US President Barack Obama.
US governers & company CEOs
Even a number of Governors of the 50 states in US spoke out against Trump and vowed to support Paris agreement. They were joined by a chorus of disapproval from global leaders and blue chip companies including Facebook, Apple, Ford and Microsoft.
What is unimaginable and shocking is his own secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and Ivanka Trump, the president’s own daughter and adviser, joined the rival school of thought that argued US should remain in the Paris deal in order to preserve at least its diplomatic influence over 195 countries supporting the agreement. A word must be said also of UK’s PM Teresa May who was wishy-washy in her statement and reaction.
She stopped short of expressing “disappointment” and reportedly refused to sign a declaration from the other European G7 for which the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, accused her of “subservience to Trump”. Recall how Tony Blair was infamously called the “poodle” of Bush administration for blindly supporting the baseless allegation, that Saddam Husein had “weapons of Mass destruction” for which Iraq was destroyed.
Macron in English
Another noted reaction to be highlighted is that of the President of France 39 and youngest of world leaders who spoke out in correct “English” against Trump. It is said of colonized Indians they speak correct “abusive language” against the British in English, thanks to their long colonial tutoring. Till a few years ago, French used to be the diplomatic language for international communication and they are too fond of and proud of their language, like our Tamilians in India.
So even now they stick to their own diplomatic language in international circles. This scribe had his own harsh experience with little knowledge of French, to get directions in Lyon rail station long ago to go to Ars, the place of the saintly Cure. Finally a by-stander helped while the railway officer kept on lecturing in French. Experince was totally different and helpful beyond compare, in Munich,Germany in a similar situation.
It may be that Macron was giving a tit for tat for the harsh and rough hand-shake he got from Trump. So he spoke in Trump’s own language: “I do respect this decision(to withdraw) but I do think it is an actual mistake both for the US and for our planet. Wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again,”(he did not say ‘make my country great) so that Trump may not complain later, famous that he is, for ‘lying and fake news’ that he did not fully understand him.
Made America last
“Make America first, Make America great,” used to be the repeated refrain ever since Trump assumed office. With his public walk-out from Paris agreement he conspicuously became the last – isolated and lonely — among the comity of nations. Paris agreement was signed by 195 nations voluntarily, not compelled by anyone, in 2015 and its article 29 stipulates from signatories that the agreement is to be implemented and not “renegotiated”, which puts Trump in a bind and his withdrawal a slap, a rotten egg splashed by himself on his own face, to appear ridiculous before the whole world.
Only two puny nations, Nicaragua and Syria had refused to join the accord. In any drama played on the world stage, there is to be an indispensible role for some one to act as a ‘clown’ to make the audience laugh and relax or to laugh at. Trump played that role to perfection with his withdrawal and substance-less comments. “Oh Tempora, oh mores!” (Oh the miserable times we live in!) The last principle acceptable is: resort to ‘ridicule’ to correct (Ridendo corrigere) or ‘laugh at and shame the incorrible in public” to drive sense into them.
The reactions from world leaders are doing just that to be polite to the President of a great country. What God wants of a hardened sinner, it is said, is not his ‘self-destruction’ but his reform and rehabilitation like the “prodigal son”. John Kerry the democrac Senator said that President Trump was indulging in a game of “self-destruction”. We wish that Trump realizes sooner than later that his role as President of US is not to play the role of a clown or buffoon, not to lead the world as a “suicide bomber” to distruction but to shine as “a city seated on a mountain top” to enlighten, attract and lead the rest of the world to peace, prosperity and glory!
james kottoor, editor, ccv.
Please read below detailed write up in the Guardian
EU to bypass Trump administration after Paris
climate agreement pullout
Daniel Boffey in Brussels, Kate Connolly in Berlin, Oliver Milman and David Smith, in The Guardian, Friday 2 June 2017
Brussels rejects Trump’s offer to renegotiate landmark deal, as global politicians, business leaders and US state governors criticise president
Chinese premier Li Keqiang (right) with European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Both spoke of a commitment to tackling global warming. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters
The European Union has rejected Donald Trump’s offer to renegotiate the Paris climate agreement and pledged instead to bypass Washington to work with US business leaders and state governors to implement the historic accord’s commitments.
Less than 24 hours after the US president announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 agreement and strike a new, less ambitious deal with the world, Brussels declared its outright refusal to engage in such talks.
EU officials will instead cut out the White House to deal directly with the US states and major corporations, many of whom who have already pledged to live by the terms forged in Paris.
Elon Musk and Disney boss quit Trump's business panel over Paris pullout
Miguel Arias Cañete, the European commissioner for climate action, said a global agreement should not be put at the whim of a domestic election. “The Paris agreement is fit for purpose,” the Spanish politician said, gripping a copy of the document that 195 countries have pledged to support. “The Paris agreement is here to stay. The 29 articles of this Paris agreement are not to be renegotiated. They are to be implemented. That’s what the EU will do.”
Cañete, who was speaking in Brussels after finalising a joint statement with China on accelerating efforts to reduce carbon emissions, said: “The world can continue to count on the EU on providing global leadership fighting climate change … We will do so developing strong partnerships.
“The fight against climate change cannot depend on the result of elections in one country of another. When a country signs an international agreement it has to fulfil its commitments. There will be new administrations. I’m pretty sure President Trump hasn’t read the articles of this treaty. There is nothing to renegotiate here.”Trump’s move has been met with a chorus of disapproval from global leaders and blue chip companies including Facebook, Apple, Ford and Microsoft.
A number of the governors of US states have vowed to ignore Washington. The mayor of Pittsburgh also fired back against Trump, who told reporters on Thursday: “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”
Bill Peduto wrote on Twitter: “Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world and will follow Paris agreement. As the mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris agreement for our people, our economy and future.”
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said Trump “can’t and won’t stop all those of us who feel obliged to protect the planet”. She said the move by the US to join just Nicaragua and Syria outside the accord was “extremely regrettable and that’s putting it very mildly”.
Li Keqiang, the Chinese premier, and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, also spoke together on Friday morning of the importance of continued international cooperation to defeat global warming.
Merkel, speaking at a press conference in Berlin, said Germany would not sway from the goals set out in the Paris agreement. “Nothing can or will stop us,” she said. “The road – there’s no doubt about it – is stony, but I am also convinced of the fact we cannot retrace our steps.”
She said there were many other partners willing to work together and was “enthused” by the response from US companies who were supportive of the deal. “We need this Paris agreement in order to save our creation,” she said.
Analysis Paris climate deal: what was agreed and does it matter if US withdraws?The US is the only country to argue that the accord demands too much of signatory nations
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said in an unprecedented English-language speech from the Elysée Palace that he believed Trump had made a mistake. “I do respect this decision but I do think it is an actual mistake both for the US and for our planet. Wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again,” he said.
Downing Street issued a later statement saying the British prime minister, Theresa May, had told Trump of her “disappointment”. Downing Street sources would not say whether May had been asked to sign the declaration from the other European G7 countries.The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, accused her of “subservience to Trump”.
In an announcement made in the White House garden, Trump effectively took out the world’s second largest carbon emitter of greenhouse gases, from an accord that Barack Obama had described as a “major leap for mankind”, echoing Neil Armstrong’s words during the moon landing.
Trump told reporters: “The fact that the Paris deal hamstrings the United States while empowering some of the world’s top polluting countries … That’s not going to happen while I’m president, I’m sorry.”
Obama issued a rare statement saying the new administration had joined “a small handful of nations that reject the future”. He said that US states, cities and businesses “will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got”.
Trump’s decision risks destabilising the Paris deal, with remaining participants faced with the choice of trying to make up the shortfall in emissions cuts or following the US’s lead and abandoning the agreement. In 2015, nearly 200 countries agreed to curb greenhouse gas emissions in order to prevent the runaway climate change that would occur should temperatures spiral 2C or more above the pre-industrial era.
The US emissions reduction pledge accounts for a fifth of the global emissions to be avoided by 2030, with an analysis by not-for-profit group Climate Interactive showing that a regression to “business as usual” emissions by the US could warm the world by an additional 0.3C by 2100. This would help push global temperature rise well beyond 2C, causing punishing heatwaves, a rise in sea level, displacement of millions of people and the loss of ecosystems such as coral reefs.
Prof John Schellnhuber, a climate scientist and former adviser to the EU, Angela Merkel and the pope, said the US would be the loser from its withdrawal. “China and Europe have become world leaders on the path towards green development already and will strengthen their position if the US slips back. The Washington people around Trump fail to recognise that the climate wars are over, while the race for sustainable prosperity is on.”
Trump followed through with his campaign pledge to “cancel” US involvement in the Paris accord following months of conflicting signals over whether he would do so or just scale back the US ambition to cut emissions.
The withdrawal represents a victory for the nationalist elements in Trump’s administration, such as his strategist Steve Bannon, who have argued the Paris deal undermines an “America first” approach, harms domestic coal production and hinders efforts to repeal Barack Obama-era regulations such as the Clean Power Plan.
Trump sought to frame his decision as part of this nationalist agenda. “The Paris agreement handicaps the United States economy in order to win praise from the very foreign capitals and global activists that have long sought to gain wealth at our country’s expense,” he said. “They don’t put America first. I do, and I always will.”
The anti-agreement faction had jockeyed for Trump’s favour over a rival school of thought, including the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, that argued the US should remain in the Paris deal in order to preserve its diplomatic influence.
