Beijing to Trump: Climate change is not a Chinese hoax

Trump’s recent denial of climate change science has fumed global leaders, who condemned his thoughts during the worldwide Conference in Marrakesh.

Hundreds of businesses such as Starbucks, General Mills and Hewlett Packard are asking President-elect Donald Trump to follow through on US commitments to combat climate change.

Ministers and government officials from nearly 200 countries gathered in Marrakech this week are awaiting a decision by President-elect Trump on whether he’ll pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. “Don’t look to bureaucrats or climate-denying Presidents to take the lead on global climate action”.

The BASIC countries will continue to advance their “legitimate” interests of all developing nations with “emphasis” on such nations which are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

In a statement, the ministers at the meeting said momentum for cutting greenhouse gases was “irreversible” and reaffirmed their commitment to “full implementation” of the Paris accord.

The pact commits countries to limiting global temperature rises to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to keep increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The proclamation, “supported by all the parties” welcomes the rapid entry into force of the Paris Agreement adopted under the Convention.

“We shall have to wait and see what position they will take, but we. expect that they will take a right and smart decision to live up to the world’s expectations”, he added, according to Xinhua state news agency.

Amid apprehension that USA president-elect Donald Trump might withdraw the United States from the climate-rescue Paris agreement, India on Friday said one should not react on assumptions and “wait” and keep a “close watch” on the situation.

Though many countries failed to achieve the targets, fresh targets in a second commitment period running till 2020 were decided at the 2012 climate change conference in Doha through what came to be called the Doha Amendment to Kyoto Protocol. Last year, the company released its climate change policy along with a promise at the New York Times Energy for Tomorrow Conference in Paris to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 65 percent across its operations by 2050.

European Union climate action and energy commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete tweeted: “Another victory for the climate: Marrakech Action Proclamation shows world forging ahead with ambitious climate action”.

The Paris Agreement, built on a looser model proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, lets all nations set their own goals to curb emissions with no penalties for non-compliance.