Coming as it did in the middle of COP 22 (7-18 November), the announcement of the US presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who is openly sceptical of climate change and determined to wage battle with the Paris Agreement that his predecessor has just ratified, has provoked considerable concern.
In contrast with the isolationist stance announced during the electoral campaign by the now president-elect of the country that is the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, Europeans have restated their faith in multilateralism and some in the Coué method
"Only by cooperating closely can the EU and the US continue to make a difference when dealing with unprecedented challenges such as (...) climate change", stressed Presidents Donald Tusk, of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, of the European Commission, in their joint letter to Trump. This sentence was immediately picked up and repeated by European Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete on his Twitter account.
In the European Parliament, S&D Group leader Gianni Pittella hoped that the United States would not turn its back on the universal agreement, implementation of which is currently being negotiated in Marrakesh. "We hope the USA will respect Obama’s legacy on issues like climate change, sustainable development goals, and the other common challenges we face", he stated.
"B.Obama has ratified & committed the US. No withdrawal from #ParisAgreement 103 countries & 70% emissions. Lets stay vigilant for climate", tweeted COP 21 President Ségolène Royal, who passed the torch on to Salaheddine Mezouar, the Moroccan president of COP 22. "At stake today is … saving the planet", said French President François Hollande, promising that France would be "vigilant" in its future relations with the United States.
There is consternation among NGOs. Friends of the Earth International thinks that "the election of Trump is a disaster for climate and especially for the African continent". It says "the rest of the world must not waver and must redouble commitments to tackle dangerous climate change". (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)