Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape (right) speaks as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on at a press conference in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on May 22, 2023. Photo: Stephen Wright/BenarNews
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape has asked United States President Donald Trump to reconsider pulling out of the Paris Agreement and global climate efforts.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office, directing an immediate submission of a formal written notification of the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
"The notice shall be submitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.The United States will consider its withdrawal from the Agreement and any attendant obligations to be effective immediately upon this provision of notification," the order said.
In response, Marape has issued a statement echoing what he told the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos last week.
He said he is greatly concerned about PNG and other Pacific nations, which have been unjustly subjected to the effects of climate change.
President Donald Trump announced the United States' withdrawal form the Paris Agreement just hours after taking office on 20 January. Photo: AFP / Jim Watson
Marape said it was totally irresponsible for President Trump to withdraw from the Paris climate accord without announcing the shut down of coal power plants.
He pointed out that the US "is the second biggest holder of carbon footprint, only after China".
"The United States is not shutting down any of its coal power plants yet decides to withdraw from current climate efforts. This is totally irresponsible."
Marape said President Trump has the right to pursue his 'Put America First' agenda, but he needs to say how he will respond to the matter of climate change, since the science is not lying to us about the planet heating up.
He said "good global leaders are also responsible world statesmen. They take responsibility not just for their own countries, but also for the planet".
Last year, PNG pulled out of the annual UN climate change conference (COP29) held in Azerbaijan in protest, saying the UNFCCC process was not helping climate vulnerable nations.
The country's foreign minister said that "pledges made by major polluters" at the climate talks "amount to nothing more than empty talk".
