Merkel says Trump move ‘extremely regrettable’

(AFP)

WASHINGTON: Chancellor Angela Merkel says the decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord “can’t and won’t stop all those of us who feel obliged to protect the planet.”
Merkel said Friday that the announcement by Trump was “extremely regrettable and that’s putting it very mildly.”
But she told reporters in a brief statement that “it’s now necessary to look forward after last night’s announcement by the US administration.”
Merkel says Germany and others “will combine our forces more resolutely than ever ... to address and tackle big challenges for humanity such as climate change.”
She adds that “we need this Paris agreement to preserve creation. Nothing can and will stop us from doing so.”
President Donald Trump says the US could try to re-enter the international climate agreement sealed in Paris if the deal were more favorable to Americans.
Trump indicated that wasn’t a priority as he explained why he was pulling the US out of the Paris accord in the first place. In a Rose Garden announcement Thursday, the president framed the decision as one made in the best interest of his country.
Many US allies are expressing alarm over the US abandoning the chief effort to slow the planet’s warming. The leaders of France, Germany and Italy joined to “note with regret” the Trump decision and express doubts about any change in the accord.
Several of Trump’s top aides also opposed the action, including his daughter Ivanka Trump.