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Bishop John Arnold: Trump's withdrawal from Paris Agreement puts him 'on the wrong side of history'


Bishop John Arnold with CAFOD climate campaigners during lobby of Parliament last October

Bishop John Arnold with CAFOD climate campaigners during lobby of Parliament last October

The Bishop of Salford has criticised President Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, saying the move is an “abdication of responsibility” which will impact upon the world’s poorest people.

In a letter published in The Times newspaper, Bishop John Arnold said that withdrawal from the Paris Agreement “sees Mr Trump positioning himself on the wrong side of history.”

The Accord, which was reached in 2015, is a commitment by 195 countries to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases which are changing the climate.

In the letter, Bishop Arnold noted that Pope Francis had given President Trump a copy of his encyclical Laudato Si’ on Mr Trump’s visit to the Vatican. The Bishop said it was “a pity that the President has seemingly not read it” as “he would have seen that the Holy Father asks why anyone would want to be remembered for their inability to take action in the face of the environmental crisis.”

Bishop Arnold, who is the Chairman of CAFOD, went on to say: “Many millions of others – both in America and elsewhere – have listened to Pope Francis’s call. They are acting to prevent the poorest and most vulnerable people being pushed over the edge by climate change. When virtually every country in the world has committed to Paris, it’s for Donald Trump to decide whether to remain isolated on an issue that will define our time.”

President Trump’s decision was immediately denounced by world leaders. China and the European Union issued a joint statement committing to the Paris Agreement, whilst Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged his country would go “above and beyond” the requirements of the Accord. Newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron ended a speech in which he urged US scientists and entrepreneurs to “come and work here with us” by stating that the world shares a responsibility to “Make our planet great again” – a pointed reference to Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.

Graham Gordon, CAFOD’s Head of Policy, said that the reasoning the US President set out for the withdrawal in his White House speech amounted to “a staggering contradiction of reality.”

Gordon said: “President Trump argued in his speech that he is ‘someone who cares deeply about the environment’. Walking away from the problem and ripping up your obligations are strange ways of showing this.

“It is reassuring to see so many other leaders across the US and the rest of the world restating their commitment to care for our common home, making sure that the most vulnerable of our sisters and brothers do not pay the price of inaction.”

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