Should he win November’s US presidential election, Donald Trump will be the only elected world leader to deny the science of climate change.
That’s the finding of a report from the Sierra Club after assessing the views of more than 190 heads of government.
“A review of the data indicates that Trump might very well be the only world leader not calling for urgent climate action,” says the report.
Some of the country’s closest allies are among the strongest supporters of tough climate action, with leaders in France, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany and the UK backing the UN’s 2015 climate pact.
Even major oil producers now accept the science: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Russia all approved the Paris deal.
They changed the name from “global warming” to “climate change” after the term global warming just wasn’t working (it was too cold)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2013
Speaking in the French capital during last December’s conference, Vladimir Putin spoke of his support for a plan to limit warming to below 2C, according to a speech on the Kremlin website.
In contrast, “bullshit”, “hoax” and “mythical” are some of the words used by Trump to describe climate change.
The Republican candidate has suggested it could be a Chinese conspiracy (although he later said that was a joke), and threatened to “cancel” the Paris climate deal if he comes to power.
Results from the election will be announced in the middle of the UN’s 2016 climate summit in Marrakech, and may determine how much progress can be made at the meeting.
In contrast to Trump, analysts say Democrat contender Hillary Clinton could run on the most ambitious climate platforms ever seen in a White House race.
Released this week, Clinton’s policies include tougher tests for fracking and new pipelines, a carbon tax and incentives for renewables.
“The entire landscape of America’s energy policy will be changed if (Hillary Clinton) follows her word here,” veteran US environmental campaigner Bill McKibben told the Guardian.