Jean-Claude Juncker: No renegotiation of Paris climate deal

‘Climate action doesn’t need more distractions,’ says Commission president.

The EU won’t consider U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the Paris climate deal could be renegotiated, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament Wednesday.

“The European Union will not renegotiate the Paris agreement,” he told the assembly’s plenary session. “The 29 articles of the agreement must be implemented and not renegotiated.”

Juncker pointed out that it took 20 years to strike the Paris agreement. “Climate action doesn’t need more distractions,” he said.

Looking ahead to the next international get-together of global leaders at the G20 summit in July, he was clear the EU wouldn’t wait on the U.S. “We will work hard to have a clear message coming out of the G20 summit in July — or at least from 19 [of the countries].”

His remarks followed a speech by Hilda Heine, president of the Marshall Islands, who called on the EU to hike its climate targets to keep global warming to the Paris climate deal’s more ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Marshall Islands and the EU were key players in galvanizing a coalition of vulnerable, developing, and developed countries to strike an ambitious accord in 2015. 

While Juncker pledged that the EU would step up its climate leadership and is committed to supporting vulnerable countries, including financially, he didn’t comment on Heine’s appeals for the bloc to increase efforts to cut emissions.