Trump administration urges nations to call for the withdrawal of a UN climate proposal

The Trump administration is urging other nations to press a tiny Pacific island country to withdraw a United Nations draft resolution supporting strong action to prevent climate change, including reparations for damage caused by any nation that fails to take action.

- By FARNOUSH AMIRI, EDITH M. LEDERER and MATTHEW LEE

In guidance issued this week to all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, the State Department said it “strongly objects” to the proposal being discussed by the U.N. General Assembly and that its adoption “could pose a major threat to U.S. industry.”

“President Trump has delivered a very clear message: that the U.N. and many nations of the world have gone wildly off track, exaggerating climate change into the world’s greatest threat,” according to the cable sent Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press.

It is the latest move by the Trump administration to distance the U.S. from climate change efforts at home and around the world. A day ago, the government revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. last month also announced plans to withdraw from the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations.

The draft resolution sponsored by Vanuatu, which like many island nations fears for its survival because of climate change, is being circulated among the 193-member General Assembly and stems from a landmark advisory opinion by the U.N.’s top court last July.