President says the agreement shields ‘foreign polluters’

In a speech that railed against his friends and foes — both domestic and foreign — U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the Paris Agreement would require the U.S. to ‘pay countries’ such as India [for technology and support to fight climate change], justifying his withdrawal from the climate treaty.

Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, a think-tank in the city, Mr. Trump said the Agreement was “economically unfair”, killing American jobs and shielding “foreign polluters”.

“It is so unfair. It doesn’t kick in for China until 2030. Russia goes back into the 1990s, where the base-year was the dirtiest year ever in the world,” Mr. Trump claimed.

“India…we are supposed to pay them money because they’re a developing nation,” Mr. Trump said, his arms outstretched. “I said, ‘We’re a developing nation too’,” he added, to laughter from the audience.

According to the 2016 Paris Agreement, developed countries are to support developing countries’ efforts to fight climate change via financing mechanisms, technology and capacity building.

India featured again during the question-and-answer session that followed the President’s speech.

“We have a relatively small piece of land, the United States,” Mr. Trump said. “And you compare that to some of the other countries like China, like India, like Russia, like many other countries that are doing absolutely nothing to clean up their smoke stacks and clean up all of their plants and all of their garbage that they’re dropping in the sea and that floats into Los Angeles…”