No change in US position on Paris Agreement: White House

The US government has not changed its position on withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change, the White House said.

"As the President (Donald Trump) has made abundantly clear, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favourable to our country," Xinhua news agency citedted the White House statement as saying on on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Canete said at a meeting in Canada that the US wouldn't pull out of the Paris Agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The EU official said the US has said it "will not renegotiate the Paris accord", but will instead "review the terms on which they could be engaged under this agreement," the report said.

Trump, who once called climate change a "hoax", announced in June that his country will leave the the Paris Agreement. His decision fulfilled a campaign promise, but was met with widespread criticism both at home and abroad.

--IANS

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