US Denies it Sunk Agreement But the US State Department denied it had been reluctant to act over climate change in the Arctic and pointed the finger at Russia and China for not playing by the rules. “There were several different versions of the declaration going around. The US was ready to sign,” insisted a US official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, while addressing the council, that collective goals are not the answer. “Collective goals are rendered meaningless, even counter productive as soon as one nation fails to comply,” said Pompeo. US intransigence over global warming is nothing new. President Trump has said he is sceptical whether global warming is the result of human activity and withdrew the US from the Paris climate accord, which was signed by 200 governments in 2015. Arctic temperatures are rising twice as fast as in the rest of the world and pose a serious threat to the region’s wildlife and indigenous populations. But the melting sea ice has also opened up some of the world’s last untapped mineral wealth, including huge reserves of oil and gas. Scientists believe the Arctic may hold up to 30% of the world’s reserves of natural gas.]]>
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