France, Germany seize upon US withdrawal from climate pact to push geopolitical interests
By
Peter Schwarz
3 June 2017
US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change has prompted denunciations from leading European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Merkel called on “everyone for whom the future of our planet is important” to continue along the path together “so that we are successful for our Mother Earth.” She added: “Nothing can and will stop us… In Germany and in Europe, we are more determined than ever to pool all of the forces in the world.”
Macron appealed to the global population in a video message in both French and English (an historic first for the Elysee Palace) an hour after Trump’s announcement. He accused the American president of committing a major mistake and referenced Trump’s election slogan, declaring, “Make our planet great again.”
Behind their melodramatic declarations, Merkel and Macron are exploiting the rift with America and Britain’s exit from the European Union to build up the EU into a great power capable of competing with the US for global markets, investment opportunities and strategic influence.
Following the US withdrawal, Europe has drawn closer together. Germany, France and Italy rejected Trump’s call for a renegotiation of the climate targets in a joint statement. British Prime Minister Theresa May refused to sign the statement but also declared her “disappointment” with Trump’s decision.
As Trump announced the US exit from the climate change agreement in Washington, Merkel first welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Berlin. The centrepiece of each visit was a…