Environmental groups urge Theresa May to convince Donald Trump to back Paris climate deal

Theresa May - credit: PA

A coalition of environmental groups has urged Prime Minister Theresa May to “pick up the phone” to Donald Trump and persuade him not to renege on America’s commitment to the Paris climate change agreement.

The campaign organisations – including Oxfam, the RSPB, Greenpeace, WWF, Christian Aid and Cafod – have written to May calling on her to stop the US president from pulling out of the landmark deal.

During the Presidential campaign Trump vowed to leave the Paris accord within his first 100 days in office – a deadline which has since passed.

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As part of the climate change agreement countries agreed to cut emissions enough to keep the global average rise in temperatures below 2 degrees celsius.

The USA under Barack Obama signed up to the agreement in September along with China. The two countries are responsible for 40 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions.

In the joint letter, the environmental activists warn that Mr Trump “may be about to undermine a vital global agreement on which the health, security and prosperity of hundreds of millions of people depend”.

“This climate agreement was an extraordinary feat of international diplomacy, and the UK played a crucial role in securing it,” they write.

“This is now the best chance humanity has to avert full-blown climate change, and may well be the last. A strong majority of people in the UK believe climate change is happening.

“They will be looking to you as the prime minister to champion science, moral responsibility and international cooperation.”

The Paris deal, signed in December 2015, is the world's first comprehensive climate deal.