China vows to stick to climate deal before Trump announcement

China will stick to its commitments on climate change as set out in the Paris Agreement, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in Berlin on Thursday, hours before President Donald Trump announces whether the United States will withdraw from the deal.

“China will stand by its responsibilities on climate change,” Li told reporters in Berlin, according to a German translation, adding it was standing by its international responsibilities and also setting national targets.

Li made the comments at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who welcomed his pledge.

In a statement backed by all 28 EU states, the European Union and China will commit to full implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, EU and Chinese officials said.

The joint statement, the first between the China and the EU, commits to cutting back on fossil fuels, developing more green technology and helping raise $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer countries cut emissions.

“The EU and China consider climate action and the clean energy transition an imperative more important than ever,” the statement, by European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and China’s Li, will say.

“The increasing impacts of climate change require a decisive response,” they will say.

EU President Donald Tusk has tweeted Donald Trump asking him not to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

.@realDonaldTrump please don't change the (political) climate for the worse.

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) June 1, 2017

Britain urges United States to take climate change seriously

Britain wants the United States to take a leading role on addressing climate change, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Thursday but he would not be drawn on what his response would be if President Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris accord.

Trump is expected to say whether to keep the United States in a global pact to fight climate change, and a source close to the matter told Reuters said he was preparing to pull out of the Paris accord.

“We’re not there yet. We continue to lobby the U.S. at all levels to continue to take climate change extremely seriously.” Johnson told Sky news.

He added that other countries such as India and China needed to make further progress on reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Trump wants to pull out of the Paris agreement, a source told Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the United States out of a global pact to fight climate change, a source who was briefed on the decision told Reuters, a move that should rally his support base at home while deepening a rift with U.S. allies abroad.

I will be announcing my decision on Paris Accord, Thursday at 3:00 P.M. The White House Rose Garden. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017