Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has expressed his exasperation at the decision by the United States to officially withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
“It is incomprehensible that a time where California is ablaze, the United States has pulled out of an Agreement that seeks to stabilise our climate,” James Shaw said.
“The time to act has never been more pressing, and as a global community we should all be working together to ensure a safe planet for future generations.
“In withdrawing, the United States has ceded its traditional position as a global leader.
“The rest of the world will continue to act on climate change. Europe, China, the Pacific and others will step up where the US is stepping back.
“Together we can and will create a world where we all have, as former US President Kennedy put it, ‘the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation; the right to breathe air as nature provided it; the right of future generations to a healthy existence”.