The leaders of 18 nations closed this year's G20 Summit with the assurance that they all remained committed to the Paris Climate Agreement, minus the United States under President Trump. The G20 Summit took place over the weekend where many of the world's nations held talks in Hamburg, Germany over the issues their countries faced.
The nations committed to the agreement also included the European Union, but they also recognized that the U.S.
was not with them in recognition of the climate agreement. On June 1, President Trump shocked the international community when he said that he would be pulling the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, claiming that it restrains the U.S. and is a job killer.
Protecting U.S. role in climate agreement
The Paris Climate Agreement was initially led by the Obama administration with 196 other nations. It was a non-binding agreement to curb carbon emissions and to solve the issues of climate change. The agreement was criticized by skeptical Republicans who refused to support it and fearing that America's stance in the accord could be threatened, President Obama reinforced the commitment ahead of time.
It's been reported that not even President Trump could get the U.S. out of the agreement during his first term. Trump's abrasive attacks against World Leaders forced those same leaders to consider going ahead without the U.S., and this came across as quite obvious during the summit.
No renegotiation
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear in her closing statements for the G20 Summit that she did not like President Trump's position but was happy to see that the other nations stood firm against the U.S. request to renegotiate the deal. During President Trump's announcement that he wanted to take the U.S. out of the accord, he said that he would like to renegotiate a better deal but world leaders said this was not possible.
Trump was also prepared for this said that if he couldn't, then he would be fine with it.
With nations like the U.S. taking part in the climate accord, other countries would naturally follow suit but, it was also reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's commitment was now in doubt. He claimed that the reason for this was because, with the U.S. withdrawing, it puts compensation for other developing countries in jeopardy. Turkey claimed that when they signed the accord, they were promised by France that Turkey would be eligible for compensation they would need in order to be in compliance. President Trump tweeted out that the G20 Summit was a great success as he was reportedly able to win a concession on trade.