US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the US could
stay in the Paris Agreement on climate change under right conditions.
"Under the right conditions, the President said he's
open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others in
what we all agree is a challenging issue," said Tillerson in an interview
with CBS.
Tillerson's remarks were in line with previous statements
from the US State Department which said that the US is "open to
re-engaging in the Paris Agreement if the US can identify terms that are more
favourable to it, its business, its workers, its people, and its
taxpayers", Xinhua news agency reported.
US President Donald Trump on June 1 announced his decision
to withdraw from Paris Agreement, citing concerns about the accord's threat to
the US economy as a main reason for the withdrawal.
"The cost to the economy at this time (by 2040) would
be close to $3 trillion in lost GDP and 6.5 million industrial jobs," said
Trump then, citing figures from a disputed study commissioned by the American
Council for Capital Formation and the US Chamber of Commerce, both known for
lobbying against climate regulations.
The decision to withdraw fulfilled a crucial campaign
promise by Trump, who once called climate change "a hoax".
In his first budget request, Trump also proposed a 31 per
cent reduction in funding the US Environment Protection Agency.
Yet, despite his decision to leave the Paris Agreement,
Trump would stick to the four-year-long withdrawal process stipulated by the
Paris Agreement, which means that the US withdrawal won't take effect till
November 2020, about two months away from the end of his first term.
Source: IANS
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