ST. PETERSBURG, June 2. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump should not be judged for his decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, Russian President Vladimir Putin said while answering questions at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
"I would refrain from judging President Trump right now because it was President Obama who made the decision [on joining the Paris Agreement - TASS], so maybe the new president believes it was not well-conceived, maybe he thinks there are not enough resources," Putin explained.
"This situation needs to be thoroughly assessed," he added.
At the same time, the Russian president pointed out that "it was possible not to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because it is a framework document so the United States’ obligations could have been changed."
Russia's stance
Moscow wants to wait before ratifying the Paris climate agreement until the participating countries set out clear-cut rules, Putin stressed.
The Paris Accord is a bad deal for Americans, and @POTUS' action today is keeping his promise to put American workers first. pic.twitter.com/YfbnaymerP
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) 1 June 2017
"As far as I remember, the United States ratified the agreement, but we [Russia] have not done it yet," the Russian leader said.
"We have not done this since we want to wait until the rules for distributing resources are set out, along with other purely technical but essential details."
Trump's stance
"The United States made commitments to provide $100 billion dollars to the so-called green fund which was meant to be used to assist the developing countries in implementing environmental protection programs, but it still has not been decided how to allocate the money, as well as who will control and manage it," Putin pointed out.
"As President, I have one obligation, and that obligation is to the American people." https://t.co/e4eLHzK1Ty pic.twitter.com/meLatDVdu8
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) 2 June 2017
"What I am trying to say is that to reduce gas emissions by 26-28% by 2025, which is not far off, there is a need to upgrade industries and inject hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars into the country’s economy," the Russian president said commenting on Washington’s obligations under the Paris Agreement. He added that the US also needed to think what would become of the workers who would lose their jobs and how to prevent them from joining the scores of people living below the poverty line."
Putin also mentioned that the Paris Agreement "is a framework document stipulating that governments will make all the decisions themselves."
"The US committed to reducing gas emissions by 26-28% by 2025, while Russia is committed to cutting carbon emissions by 70% from the 1990 level, by 2030," the Russian president noted.
Paris Climate Accord
The Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015, at the COP-21 UN Climate Change Conference held in the capital of France. The 195 forum participants agreed to avert a rise in the average global air temperature by more than 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 compared to the preindustrial era. Scientists believe higher temperatures may bring about irreversible consequences for the environment.
On April 22, 2016, as many as 175 countries, including Russia, Germany, India, China and the United States, signed the agreement at a summit held at the United Nations headquarters.
According to the agreement, by 2025, the US was to reduce gas emissions by 26-28% in comparison with the levels seen ten years ago. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced that America would pull out of the agreement.