Out of solidarity with the developing countries which are most vulnerable to climate change, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, speaking in New York on Tuesday evening 19 September, called for swift and comprehensive implementation of the Paris agreement, the only global response to this global challenge.
He was addressing the high-level event on the Global Pact for the Environment, which took place during the 72nd annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (see other article).
Referring to his meetings the previous day with the prime ministers of Bhutan and Fiji, the small island state that will chair COP 23 (6-17 November), Tusk said: “Like all other countries of the world now, these two countries are also feeling the very real effects of climate change. Despite their small means, they do not hesitate and continue their determined fight against climate change. We cannot let them or any others down in this truly global challenge. This is why I want to call for a prompt and comprehensive implementation of the Paris agreement”.
Even though the name of the US president was not uttered, the contrast with the means of the United States and the mixed messages from the American administration on this first universal climate agreement was implicit in the Council president’s speech (see EUROPE 11864).
Those awaiting clarification by Donald Trump of his position on the Paris Agreement will have to remain disappointed: the American president made no mention of it and did not even attend the speech delivered to the General Assembly by French President Emmanuel Macron, in which he repeated that “the Paris Agreement will not be renegotiated”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)