Indian-origin United States ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Nikki Haley has defended President Donald Trump's move to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord, saying that America was committed to stopping climate change. Haley's statement, however, was in stark contrast to what Trump's decision suggests.
Last week, Trump had announced that the US was pulling out of the global agreement designed to fight climate change. The Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2015, involves nearly 200 countries with a goal to limit global warming well below two degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels.
Trump has always been critical of the global climate accord, calling global warming a hoax, and had pledged to withdraw from the deal during the presidential elections campaign last year.
The US President had said that he is withdrawing the US from the agreement citing that India would get billions of dollars for meeting its commitment under the 2015 Paris Agreement along with China and gain a financial advantage over the US.
After worldwide backlash worldwide, Haley attempted to defend Trump by saying that the Republican president acknowledges that the climate is changing for the worse.
"Just because the US got out of a club does not mean we are not going to care about the environment," the Indian-American senior diplomat on Saturday said.
Trump "knows that it is changing and that the US has to be responsible for it and that is what we are going to do," Haley said. The ambassador added that withdrawing from the Paris Agreement will not change America's commitment to combating climate change, according to CNN reports.
"President Trump believes the climate is changing and he believes pollutants are part of the equation," Haley said.
When asked why Trump decided to pull out of the historic deal, Haley said that he did so because former US President Barack Obama had agreed to regulations which were "too onerous", and unachievable.
Under the pact, the US had committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below its 2005 level by 2025. The US is the world's second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China.
"I knew that as a governor. The jobs were not attainable as long as we lived under those regulations. It was not possible to meet the goals had we attempted to," she said.
