China vows to stick to climate deal before Trump announcement

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Trump has said he will announce his decision on the landmark climate accord later Thursday.

Under the Paris Accord, almost 200 nations agreed in 2015 to voluntarily cut greenhouse gas emissions in a landmark agreement to fight climate change. "It is not too late to for the president to stay the course and work with the tech industry to ensure that more clean energy jobs continue to go to Americans and that USA leadership in innovation is second to none".

Reports of the impending move by the American president triggered statements of support for the climate accord from scores of world leaders.

But Mr Trump's supporters, particularly coal state Republicans, cheered the move, celebrating it as a fulfilment of a signature campaign promise.

During a brief photo opportunity later Wednesday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he would make a decision on the Paris accord "very soon".

Taking a jibe at Trump's "fake news" rant, Juncker said, "The law is the law, and everyone has to comply with it. It seems our attempt failed".

"The EU and China are joining forces to forge ahead on the implementation of the Paris Agreement and accelerate the global transition to clean energy", EU climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said about the upcoming EU-China summit, stressing they remain committed to Paris.

That fight has played out within Trump's administration.

Word of Trump's decision comes a day after the president met with Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. By looking to the past instead of the future, the US risks handing the advantage to China. Trump's son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner, was said to be neutral on the deal.

Trump's influential daughter Ivanka Trump's preference is to stay, but she has made it a priority to establish a review process so her father would hear from all sides, said a senior administration official.

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The official has insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the decision before the official announcement. Sticking to the Paris agreement could call for additional regulation, investment and research in areas such as renewables and energy efficiency, marking a significant departure from the present Administration's current stance.

The emissions goals are voluntary with no real consequences for countries that fail to meet them.

Pulling the United States from the accord could further alienate American allies in Europe already wary of Trump and call into question US leadership and trustworthiness on one of the world's leading issues.

The U.N.'s main Twitter page quotes Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying: "Climate change is undeniable".

"We need a framework like that to address the challenge of climate change, the risk of climate change", Darren Woods, CEO of Exxon Mobil, said Wednesday. This implies that the USA still has a lot more work to do to meet its pledged 26% to 28% reduction. Calculations suggest withdrawal could result in emissions of up to 3 billion tons of additional carbon dioxide in the air a year - enough to melt ice sheets faster, raise seas higher and trigger more extreme weather. He calls the expected withdrawal "a big setback".

Meanwhile, many analysts see a USA departure from the deal as paving the way for China to take the lead on climate change.

Once in power, Trump and Pruitt have moved to delay or roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions while pledging to revive the long-struggling USA coal mines.

Trump has delayed his final decision on the Paris Accord as he wants some more time to decide whether the United States should pull out of the 195-nation agreement.

By contrast, solar industry job growth expanded 17 times faster a year ago than overall US job growth.

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