Q COSTA RICA – Global reaction to the US pullout from Paris climate deal included the remarks of Costa Rica’s President Luis Guillermo Solis and Christiana Figueres.
Figueres, who was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change2010–2016, is the Costa Rican who led the who led the multilateral negotiation to reach the Paris Agreement on climate change on December 12, 2015.
The daughter of Costa Rica former three time president José Figueres Ferrer, said that Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement was a political message.
“There isn’t any legal basis for what we heard [today], it is fundamentally a political message, period — actually I would call it a vacuous political melodrama,” Figueres said on a press call organized by the World Resources Institute.
“The announcement we have heard from the White House shows a sad ignorance of how multilateral deals work,” said Figueres.
“This is an agreement of solidarity with the most vulnerable, it is an agreement of commitment, to make this new framework the engine of new growth. It is an unequivocal call to the world. Today we have done it, we finished the COP celebrating,” were the words she expressed at that time.
Figueres explained that, technically under the terms of the Paris agreement, the US can formally announce its intention to withdraw from the agreement three years after it went into effect. That would be November 5, 2019. But even then, the agreement requires that the US give one year’s notice, meaning that the US departure couldn’t go into effect until November of 2020.
“This is in essence a multilateral agreement, and no one country can unilaterally change the conditions,” said Figueres. Already, France, Germany, and Italy have announced that the Paris accord could not be renegotiated.
Figueres slammed the White House for, in her words, having “no understanding of the legal underpinning” of the Paris Agreement.
For his part, President Solis on his Twitter account, with two separate tweets, said ,”I confirm our unshakeable will on global action against climate change” and “Costa Rica requires full compliance of the Paris agreements as a commitment to the future of our species.”
Ratifico nuestra voluntad inquebrantable en la acción mundial contra cambio climático.
— Luis Guillermo Solís (@luisguillermosr) June 1, 2017
Costa Rica exige el cumplimiento integral de los Acuerdos de París como compromiso con el futuro de nuestra especie.
— Luis Guillermo Solís (@luisguillermosr) June 1, 2017
President Solis is joined by many others in denouncing the U.S. decision, including:
We’re already feeling impacts of climate change. Exiting #ParisAgreement imperils US security and our ability to own the clean energy future
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 1, 2017
My name is Michael Moore. I am an American. And I live in a Rogue State. #ParisAccord
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) June 1, 2017
Today, our planet suffered. It’s more important than ever to take action. #ParisAgreement https://t.co/FSVYRDcGUH
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) June 1, 2017
