Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Former US President Barack Obama said Friday the Paris Agreement on climate change may fall short of expectations but is still the way forward to achieve progress and encourage businesses to invest in clean energy.
Nearly 200 nations pledged to cut greenhouse emissions and help poor countries cope with the worst effects of an already warming planet under the accord signed in 2016 that was a cornerstone of Obama’s environmental legacy.
But his successor, Donald Trump, abandoned that legacy when his administration notified the U.N. last month that the U.S. would pull out of the accord. Trump has said the agreement could impede growth and impinge on U.S. sovereignty.
Speaking to young Asian leaders at a Kuala Lumpur conference hosted by his foundation, Obama said he knew the standards set by each country were insufficient but that the accord was practical and meant for the long haul.
“I took satisfaction knowing that just by setting up the mechanism, we had created the ability to over time, turn up the standards, turn up the demands. Send a signal to businesses so that they started investing in more clean energy because they saw change coming,” he said in response to questions on the climate change crisis.
