US Paris deal exit ‘not end of world’, says Hungarian president

The United States’ decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement is “not the end of the world”, President János Áder told public radio on Friday.

The signatories to the agreement are prepared to meet its targets and most US states have also declared their support for the deal, he said.

Áder reiterated his stance that US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the country out of the accord was “morally unacceptable”, adding that criticism of Trump’s move was “fair and justified”.

The United States has carried the greatest historical responsibility for the increase in CO2 emissions, making it the top contributor to today’s climate change threats, Áder said. Although China has overtaken it to become the biggest carbon emitting country, the US still has the highest per capita emissions, the president added.

Áder called Trump’s decision irresponsible towards future generations.

He said China had also changed over the past few years because it had figured out that industry-driven pollution was putting a dent in its economy. This has led the country to close coal mines and power stations and build solar parks and wind farms. It started building nuclear power plants and has launched tree-planting projects, Ader added.