Trump administration urges nations to call for the withdrawal of a UN climate proposal

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration is urging other nations to press a tiny Pacific island country to withdraw a United Nations draft resolution supporting strong action to prevent climate change, including reparations for damage caused by any nation that fails to take action.

In guidance issued this week to all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, the State Department said it “strongly objects” to the proposal being discussed by the U.N. General Assembly and that its adoption “could pose a major threat to U.S. industry.”

“President Trump has delivered a very clear message: that the U.N. and many nations of the world have gone wildly off track, exaggerating climate change into the world’s greatest threat,” according to the cable sent Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press.

It is the latest move by the Trump administration to distance the U.S. from climate change efforts at home and around the world. A day ago, the government revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. last month also announced plans to withdraw from the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations.

The draft resolution sponsored by Vanuatu, which like many island nations fears for its survival because of climate change, is being circulated among the 193-member General Assembly and stems from a landmark advisory opinion by the U.N.’s top court last July.

The International Court of Justice said countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change, and nations harmed by its effects could be entitled to reparations.

All U.N. member states, including major greenhouse gas emitters like the U.S. and China, are parties to the court. The opinion is not legally binding but was hailed as a turning point in international climate law.

The draft resolution expresses determination to translate the ICJ’s findings in to “concrete multinational action” and calls on all nations and regional organizations to comply with their obligations under international law related to climate change.

The proposal says that includes adopting a national climate action plan to limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius; phasing out subsidies for fossil fuel exploration, production and exploitation; and urging those in violation to “provide full and prompt reparation for damage.” It would establish an International Register of Damage to record evidence and claims.

Vanuatu's U.N. Ambassador Odo Tevi, who said his island country wants a vote on the resolution by the end of March, has stressed that it would ensure that the clarity in the ICJ ruling “strengthens global climate action and multilateral cooperation.”

Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director of Human Rights Watch, urged support for the draft resolution Friday and said “governments should live up to their obligation” to protect human rights around the world by protecting the environment.

“Responsible governments shouldn’t allow themselves to be bullied by those that reject the global scientific consensus and continue to support reliance on harmful fossil fuels,” he said.

While General Assembly resolutions also are not legally binding, the ICJ said taking action to deal with the climate crisis is an international obligation.

“The resolution attempts to turn the ICJ’s interpretation of key legal standards into a practical roadmap for state accountability, which is likely to trigger political pushback from higher income high emitting countries wary of their historical responsibility and financial liability,” Candy Ofime, climate justice researcher and legal adviser at Amnesty International, said in a statement Friday.

The State Department cable outlined plans to tell other countries to urge Vanuatu to withdraw its draft — which the U.S. says is “even more problematic” than the court opinion — from consideration by Friday, when informal consultations began.

It asserted that other Group of 7 economic powers as well as China, Saudi Arabia and Russia have all indicated to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. that they share Americans’ concerns with “aspects” of the draft.

“This UNGA resolution is another example of U.N. overreach, part of a broader pattern of trying to use speculative climate models to fabricate purported legal obligations that seek to assign blame and encourage baseless claims, and to infer human rights obligations to which states have not agreed," according to the cable, which tells U.S. diplomats to use it as a talking point with representatives of other countries.

Many mainstream scientists have continuously warned that climate change is behind increasing instances of deadly and costly extreme weather, including flooding, droughts, wildfires, intense rainfall events and dangerous heat.

__ Amiri reported from New York, and Lee from Munich, Germany.