Fears that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming pushed almost 200 nations at climate talks in Morocco on Thursday to declare the deal an "urgent duty".
Trump has called man-made global warming a hoax and has said he will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which seeks to cut net greenhouse gas emissions to zero this century.
In a statement, the ministers at the meeting said momentum away from using fossil fuels towards cleaner energy was "irreversible".
"We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority," they said in the Marrakesh Action Proclamation agreed at the meeting.
"Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate and we have an urgent duty to respond," it said. Delegates applauded, joined hands above their heads in standing ovation after the proclamation was read out.
In the document, rich nations reaffirmed a goal of mobilising $100 billion in climate finance, from both public and private sources, by 2020 to help developing countries. (Reuters)
PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (C) answers questions as his wife Melania Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) watch on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 10, 2016.
CREDIT: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts.
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