MANILA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Philippine Senator Loren Legarda on Monday slammed the decision by President Donald Trump to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, calling it "a grave mistake."
Legarda, the chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, Finance and Foreign Relations, said by pulling out of the deal, the U.S. "has turned its back on the future."
"The U.S.'s pullout from the accord poses a news climate challenge," she told a press conference.
"It puts a spotlight on a belligerent leadership that refuses to heed the voices of people, including his own, who are gravely threatened by the perils of climate change and global warming," Legarda said.
She said that there are still people and leaders like Trump who are apparently "disconnected with nature, disconnected with reality that climate change not only endangers the future but is actually a threat to our survival now" as "today, we celebrate World Environment Day with the theme Connecting People to Nature."
"It is appalling that there are still climate deniers even with the evident effects of climate change already happening all over the world," she said.
Nevertheless, Legarda said that Trump's decision to pull out of the deal "is almost to naught" because even Trump's party mates and allies in the Republicans have committed to the Paris accord.
"So, there is no stopping climate change compliance in the U.S. and in the world," Legarda said.
There's a silver lining following Trump's announcement, she said. "It is the reaffirmation issued by other responsible leaders on their commitment to keep fighting against global warming," she said, specifying China for its firm commitment.
As one of the countries facing the gravest risks posed by climate change and global warming, Legarda said the Philippines will continue to stand by its partners from the international community in delivering the commitments and speeding up actions to combat climate change.
The Climate Change Commission of the Philippines has also issued a statement, saying the Philippines is "deeply troubled" by Trump's move and urged him to reconsider his decision.
An official of the country's Department of Environment and Natural Resources has said developing countries must unite and pressure the U.S. not to withdraw from the landmark 2015 agreement.
After years of hard negotiations, 195 countries finally signed the Paris Climate Agreement on how to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in December, 2015.
The U.S. is one of the 195 nations that agreed to the accord, committing to reduce its emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.
