Theresa May has been accused of a ‘dereliction of duty’ to the British people and the planet by failing to join fellow world leaders in condemning Donald’s Trump decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
Jeremy Corbyn criticised the prime minister for her “subservience” to Trump and called her public silence on the matter a failure of leadership.
On Thursday, Trump followed through on an election pledge and announced that the US would pull out of the Paris agreement, despite the US position as the second largest polluter in the world.
The move was widely condemned around the world, with the leaders of Germany, France and Italy co-signing a joint letter reaffirming their commitment to the deal.
Statement on the United States of America’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change
We, the Heads of State and of Government of France, Germany and Italy, take note with regret of the decision by the United States of America to withdraw from the universal agreement on climate change.
The Paris Agreement remains a cornerstone in the cooperation between our countries, for effectively and timely tackling climate change and for implementing the 2030 Agenda sustainable development goals.
We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated, since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies.
We are convinced that the implementation of the Paris Agreement offers substantial economic opportunities for prosperity and growth in our countries and on a global scale.
We therefore reaffirm our strongest commitment to swiftly implement the Paris Agreement, including its climate finance goals and we encourage all our partners to speed up their action to combat climate change.
We will step up efforts to support developing countries, in particular the poorest and most vulnerable, in achieving their mitigation and adaptation goals.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 1, 2017
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Japense environment minister Koichi Yamamoto echoed the sentiments of the letter, but the UK remained silent on the issue.
Jeremy Corbyn labelled Trump’s decision “reckless and dangerous” and made clear his disappointment with the prime minister for her failure to stand up for the environment. At an election event on York, the Labour leader said:
“Given the chance to present a united front from our international partners she [Mrs May] has instead opted for silence and once again subservience to Donald Trump.
“It’s a dereliction of both her duty to this country and our duty to our planet.
“This is not the type of leadership Britain needs either to negotiate Brexit or stand up to defend our planet in an era of climate change.”
