--- description: French President Francois Hollande has urged president-elect Donald Trump to respect the "irreversible" Paris Agreement on climate change. title: Donald Trump Must Respect 'Irreversible' Paris Climate Deal, France's President Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fb8f80c1afd5746/6988ae89656a3fa8c0bcddd9/gettyimages-623340430.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [climate change](/tag/climate-change/) ## climate change Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Must Respect 'Irreversible' Paris Climate Deal, French President Hollande Says by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 15, 2016 5:03 PM CUT  French President Francois Hollande looks on during the COP22 Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh on November 15, 2016. French President Francois Hollande looks on during the COP22 Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh on November 15, 2016.FADEL SENNA—AFP/Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 15, 2016 5:03 PM CUT French President Francois Hollande is urging President-elect [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4569129/racist-anti-semitic-incidents-donald-trump/ "undefined") and his government to respect the “irreversible” Paris Agreement on [climate change](http://time.com/4564224/donald-trump-climate-change/ "undefined") that has been signed by more than 190 countries. Speaking at a U.N. climate conference in Marrakech, Morocco, Hollande praised U.S. President Obama for his role in getting the landmark pact adopted in Paris in 2015 and said France would lead discussions with Trump to ensure the deal remains in place. “The United States, the most powerful economy in the world, the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, must respect the commitments that were made,” Hollande said, the [Associated Press](http://www.apexchange.com/pages/OneUp.aspx?id=4c8bc9870fdd4bd7a75e7ac9e5166c40&links=FRANCOI,HOLLAND,USABL,WK47Y2016,W46Y2016&fid=df791c8219d84b469daadfa6e651002f&Token=&media=Text&slug=AP-UN-Climate-Talks&format=nitf&site=1 "undefined") reports. “It’s not simply their duty, it’s in their interest.” During Trump’s presidential campaign, he said he would “scrap” much existing environmental regulation and bring back the ailing coal industry. He pledged to “cancel” the Paris deal, saying it put the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage economically, especially to large developing nations like China that were less constrained on carbon emissions. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon weighed in on the mounting international opposition to Trump’s stance on climate change, saying he hoped Trump would shift his position and understand the problem’s “seriousness and urgency.” “As president of the United States, I’m sure that he will understand this, he will listen and he will evaluate his campaign remarks,” he told reporters. A number of other world leaders have also expressed hope that Trump will reconsider his pledge to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, including, significantly, China. The country’s foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, [said China would like](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-climatechange-accord-idUSKBN1370JX "undefined") to continue working with all countries, including the U.S., in the global fight against climate change. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4571421/francois-hollande-donald-trump-paris-agreement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4571421/francois-hollande-donald-trump-paris-agreement/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Must Respect 'Irreversible' Paris Climate Deal, French President Hollande Says","datePublished":"2016-11-15T17:03:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:25:24.930Z","description":"\"The United States, the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, must respect the commitments that were made\"","url":"https://time.com/4571421/francois-hollande-donald-trump-paris-agreement/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fb8f80c1afd5746/6988ae89656a3fa8c0bcddd9/gettyimages-623340430.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fb8f80c1afd5746/6988ae89656a3fa8c0bcddd9/gettyimages-623340430.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MOROCCO-UN-CLIMATE-COP22","caption":"MOROCCO-UN-CLIMATE-COP22","creditText":"FADEL SENNA—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4571421/francois-hollande-donald-trump-paris-agreement/","name":"Donald Trump Must Respect 'Irreversible' Paris Climate Deal, French President Hollande Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Trump Presidency and the Future of Climate Change","description":"Donald Trump has repeatedly indicated that environmentalism is not his priority. Now, Climate scientists, policymakers and diplomats are questioning how his presidency will shape the future of climate change policy.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/U3bhooK6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-11-15T16:44:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U3bhooK6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4571421/francois-hollande-donald-trump-paris-agreement/","duration":"PT2M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4571421/francois-hollande-donald-trump-paris-agreement/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```