Trump Against The World: All Nations But U.S. Back Climate Agreement At G20

President Donald Trump, left, talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the Women's Entrepreneurship Finance event at the G20 Summit, Saturday, July 8, 2017, in Hamburg. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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HAMBURG, Germany (AP)—German Chancellor Angela Merkel says 19 members of the Group of 20 have reaffirmed the Paris climate accord as “irreversible.”

Merkel said Saturday that the summit’s final statement “takes account” of the U.S. position rejecting the climate deal.

That leaves the United States as the odd one out after President Donald Trump announced his intent to withdraw the U.S. from the agreement. The Paris accord aims to lower emissions of the greenhouse gases scientists say cause global warming.

Merkel called the U.S. position “regrettable.”

Officials did reach a common statement including Trump about the other contentious issue at the summit, trade.

The statement retains the G-20’s longstanding rejection of protectionism. But it also acknowledged that trade must be mutually beneficial and that countries can use “legitimate” trade defenses to protect workers and industries against being taken advantage of by trade partners.

At 2 p.m. local time, President Vladimir Putin said Russia will meet its obligations under the Paris climate agreement.

Speaking at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Putin said that “we honor the Paris agreement.” He added that Russia has made decisions related to the implementation of the deal and intends to implement them.

Macron hailed Putin’s pledge as “very important.”

Russia, the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, was among the 195 countries that signed the 2015 Paris agreement but it delayed its ratification for at least two years.

Russia’s carbon emissions reduction goals are very modest, and it also insisted that it be given the maximum potential credit for carbon adsorbed out of the atmosphere by vast Siberian forests.

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