The executive order of the United States to formally pull out from the Paris Climate Agreement signed by President-elect Donald Trump will ‘force’ Fiji to rethink our climate position.

Prime Minister and former Minister for Climate Change Sitiveni Rabuka made this comment in response to Mr Trump’s decision to formally withdraw US from one of the world’s biggest climate agreements.

On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed a series of measures to remove the United States from the Paris Agreement as part of 200 executive orders.

Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement is a global climate change agreement that commits over 200 nations cooperating to reduce global warming.

“It will force us to rethink our position, some of us have been worrying, thinking about how the West particularly those closer to cooperation partners in the Pacific such as Australia and New Zealand.

“We try to comply with the demand for protocols about carbon emission.

“We have been with the rest of the world encouraging those that have been extracting or exporting fossil fuel to scale down.”

Climate vulnerable countries

Mr Rabuka said climate-vulnerable countries have met some resistance in the past, particularly from those who have been reliant on fossil fuels.

“We were getting climate financing from those who continue to rely on fossil fuel while they also continue to develop alternative energy sources from renewable sources.

“The decision made by Donald Trump as the president, I understand that must be done in the best interest of the people.”

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