Trump's Republican allies tread lightly on Paris pact at COP29

Biden's envoys say any pullout from pact under next US administration will have little impact on climate fight

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Donald Trump's Republican allies in Congress showed up at United Nations climate talks to tout natural gas and nuclear energy, but they tiptoed around the elephant in the room: a looming US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

US President Joe Biden's climate envoys have sought to reassure delegates in Baku last week, telling them that Trump's planned pullout from the pact would have little impact on the global battle against climate change.

The handful of Republican lawmakers who made the trip to Azerbaijan's capital on Nov 16 represent states that are home to oil fields, coal mines and auto manufacturing.

Mr Morgan Griffith, a congressman from Virginia and member of the House energy committee, told Agence France-Presse that he has supported the Paris Agreement in the past.

Asked if he would back a withdrawal, he said: "We don't want to get in front of the President.

"It just depends on, you know, what we deem is in the best interest of the United States."