(Reuters) – President Donald Trump came under pressure on Wednesday (May 31) from corporate chief executive officers, United States allies, Democrats and some fellow Republicans to keep his country in a global pact to fight climate change, but a source close to the matter said Trump was preparing to pull out of the Paris accord.
“The decision by the (US) to walk away from Paris if he makes it, will resound all over the world and will hurt him badly and will hurt his legacy,” Todd Stern, the US chief negotiator at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, said.
Stern, who served as the US Special Envoy for Climate Change from 2009 to 2016, stressed the support for the agreement among many in the business community.
The chief executive officers of dozens of companies have made last-minute appeals to Trump.
The CEOs of ExxonMobil Corp, Apple Inc, Dow Chemical Co, Unilever NV and Tesla Inc were among those urging him to remain in the agreement.
Tesla’s Elon Musk threatened to quit White House advisory councils if the president pulls out.
“He has an opportunity a little bit like Nixon to China. If he said to his followers, ‘You know, I’ve kept an open mind like I said going into the transition and climate change, we actually, this is something that we have to focus on and we can do it in a way that’s good for everybody and good for the economy, I want you to come with me.’ He would revolutionize the issue in the (US) so I would tell him that I think that’s the direction he should go, not pulling out of Paris,” Stern said.
A US withdrawal could deepen a rift with US allies. The US would join Syria and Nicaragua as the world’s only non-participants in the landmark 195-nation accord agreed upon in Paris in 2015.
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump was working out terms of the planned withdrawal with US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, an oil industry ally and climate change doubter.
The pact was the first legally binding global deal to fight climate change. Virtually every nation voluntarily committed to steps aimed at curbing global emissions of “greenhouse” gases. These include carbon dioxide generated from burning of fossil fuels that scientists blame for a warming planet, sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms.
Stern urged the president to consider staying in the agreement even if it means lowering the US emissions targets.
“It is the middle way,” Sterns said, adding,”to pull all the way out is, it’s just so remarkably unnecessary…I would even say it’s indefensible.”
The US is currently committed to reduce its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.
A US pullout could have sweeping implications. The deal relies heavily on reductions in emissions by big polluter nations, and the US is the world’s second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China.
Trump vowed during his 2016 presidential campaign to “cancel” the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president on Jan. 20, part of an effort to bolster US oil and coal industries.