Coming years will be vital well beyond Europe, all continents will have to speed up transition towards net zero, deal with growing burden of climate change,' says von der Leyen - Anadolu Ajansı
DAVOS, Switzerland — As expected, day two of the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, witnessed strong responses to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, with European leaders stating in no uncertain terms that they will hold fort and remain a part of the global climate pact.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said Europe remained committed to the Paris climate agreement, after US President Donald Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the deal on his first day in office.
“The Paris Agreement continues to be the best hope for all humanity. So Europe will stay the course, and keep working with all nations that want to protect nature and stop global warming,” the European Union’s top executive said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
On Day 1 of his presidency, Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the US’ exit from the landmark Paris Agreement that set a goal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Now that the American president has again decided to leave the international climate change treaty,
“Each year in the last decade is one of the 10 warmest on record. We are now teetering on the edge of passing the 1.5C level defined in the Paris Agreement, and the average of the last two years is already above this level,” said Samantha Burgess, climate lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which manages Copernicus.
The 1.5C target is generally accepted to refer to the 20-year average, rather than a single year. So the temperature rise recorded in 2024 does not mean the Paris Agreement threshold has been breached.
Video. Speaking at the Davos Summit, Ursula von der Leyen emphasided the EU's dedication to the Paris climate agreement and urged international cooperation, despite Trump’s decision to withdraw.