<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><i class="">Via the Sierra Club...</i><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-3e0bf0b0-7225-f1b4-4463-bbcf0bef3192" class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">ICYMI: French and EU Officials Say No Trade Agreements Without The Paris Agreement</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">EU Announcement to Align Climate and Trade Policy Could Exclude U.S.</span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">WASHINGTON, D.C.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> -- Earlier this week, France’s Foreign Minister and the European trade commissioner </span><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/eu-paris-us-decd4aad9145/" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">both said</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> that the European Union will not negotiate any new trade agreements with any country that is not implementing the Paris Climate Agreement, which could bar the United States. These statements follow U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ </span><a href="https://www.politicopro.com/trade/article/2018/01/ross-at-davos-us-will-continue-to-be-leader-in-trade-308346" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">comments</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> last month that the U.S. was open to continuing talks with the EU for the Transatlantic Trade and Investmentment Partnership (TTIP). </span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">The EU’s linkage of climate and trade pacts mirrors statements by </span><a href="http://www.macleans.ca/politics/climate-change-still-a-nafta-priority-for-canada/" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">the government of Canada</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> and </span><a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/senate-nafta-letter-to-trump?id=C3E61283-46F3-4004-853A-D497F7539BAA&download=1&inline=file" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">leading U.S. Senators</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> that the Paris Climate Agreement goals should be a priority in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA talks are currently underway between Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. </span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Donald Trump </span><a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2017/09/sierra-club-trump-s-paris-withdrawal-one-most-ignorant-and-dangerous-actions" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">announced in June 2017</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> that he plans to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, a process that cannot be completed until November 2020. Since then, Trump, who remains the </span><a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/TrumpVsWorld.pdf" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">only climate denying head of state</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">, has become </span><a href="http://time.com/5058736/climate-change-macron-trump-paris-conference/" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">increasingly isolated</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> on the world stage.</span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">In response, Sierra Club Global Climate Policy Director John Coequyt released the following statement:</span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">“This recognition that trade agreements must address the climate crisis is a significant step forward as the world begins to implement the Paris Agreement, even while the Trump administration ignores it at its own peril. Business leaders and diplomatic experts warned the Trump administration that undermining the Paris Agreement would result in a loss of U.S. credibility and influence. We now see that they were correct. </span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">“From the EU to Canada, a growing consensus is emerging that trade deals will fail workers and communities unless they incorporate and enforce the Paris Climate Agreement goals – indeed, that is exactly what leading Senators have demanded for the ongoing NAFTA talks. By ignoring these demands, Trump further isolates the U.S. on the world stage, exposes workers to job losses, and turns a cold shoulder to families impacted by the climate crisis.</span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">"For too long, trade deals have been instruments of climate denial, allowing corporations to simply move their climate pollution from one country to another, negating climate policies and eliminating jobs. It’s high time that trade deals support workers and the fight against climate change, not corporate polluters.” </span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">###</span></div><br class=""><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">About the Sierra Club</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org" class="">www.sierraclub.org</a>.</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></div></span><div class=""><b class=""><br class=""></b></div><div class=""><b class=""><br class=""></b></div><div class=""><b class="">Think Progress</b></div><div class=""><div class="gmail-post__header" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><h1 class="gmail-post__title" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.2; font-size: 3.25em; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">EU will only make trade deals with nations that ratify Paris climate agreement</h1><h2 class="gmail-post__dek" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 2.75rem; font-size: 1.9375rem; font-weight: 300; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375rem;">The United States would be excluded.</h2></div><div class="gmail-post__metashare--wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5625em; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><header class="gmail-post__meta" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: gray; font-size: 1rem; letter-spacing: 0.15625rem; line-height: 2rem; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="gmail-post__byline" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span class="gmail-post__byline__author" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-right: 1rem; font-size: 0.8rem;"><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/author/e-a-crunden/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(83, 26, 173); word-break: break-word; white-space: nowrap;" class="">E.A. CRUNDEN</a><a class="gmail-icon gmail-icon-twitter" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/@eacrunden" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: icomoon; line-height: 1; speak: none; color: rgb(83, 26, 173); word-break: break-word; white-space: nowrap; font-size: 1rem; margin-left: 1rem;"></a></span></span><span class="gmail-post__timestamp" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.8rem; letter-spacing: 0.15625rem; margin-right: 1rem;"><time class="gmail-post__date" datetime="2018-02-06T17:01:41+00:00" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.8rem; letter-spacing: 0.15625rem;">FEB 6, 2018, 5:01 PM</time></span></header></div></div><div class=""><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">The European Union will no longer make trade deals with the United States if President Trump follows through on withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, according to a French official whose comments were endorsed by the European Commission.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">Addressing the French parliament on Thursday, French foreign affairs minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne drew a line in the sand.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">“One of our main demands is that any country who signs a trade agreement with EU should implement the Paris Agreement on the ground,” said Lemoyne. “No Paris Agreement, no trade agreement. The [United States] knows what to expect.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström tweeted support Lemoyne’s comments on Thursday.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">“Yes Paris deal reference needed in all EU trade agreement today,” she <a href="https://twitter.com/MalmstromEU/status/959114117490585600" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(195, 171, 255); word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">wrote</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class=""><span style="font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">A day later, a spokesperson for the European Commission — which manages the EU’s day-to-day business — elaborated on Malmström’s stance while voicing support for the comments as well.</span><br class=""></p><p class="gmail-p1" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;">“Since the deal we concluded last year with Japan, this chapter contains an explicit reference to the ratification and actual implementation of the Paris climate deal,” the spokesperson <a href="http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/02/02/eu-difficult-imagine-trade-deals-countries-not-paris-agreement/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">told Climate Home News</a>. “This point is a priority for the EU and it would be difficult to imagine concluding an important trade deal without an ambitious chapter on trade and sustainable development attached to it.”</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">That assertion means that any country that fails to ratify the Paris agreement — a landmark accord that was signed by virtually every country in the world in an effort to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius this century — will be shut out of new trade deals.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">The implications could be significant. Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the agreement in June, a process that won’t take effect until 2020. At the time of Trump’s announcement, only two countries had opted not to sign the agreement: Nicaragua argued that the deal did not go far enough in preventing global temperature rise, and Syria declined because it was in the midst of a civil war. Both countries have since indicated that they will sign the agreement, making the United States the only country to opt out.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">One immediate victim of mandatory ratification status would likely be the <a href="https://ustr.gov/ttip" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)</a>, an agreement still in negotiations between the United States and the EU. TTIP is meant to promote trade and encourage economic growth between the two powers, but talks stalled in 2016 following Trump’s election and the White House has shown no interest in reviving them. Should ratifying the Paris agreement become an additional prerequisite, TTIP would likely be in jeopardy.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">Other countries would also be impacted by the EU’s decision. <a href="http://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/31365/ongoing-trade-negotiations.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">More than two dozen nations</a> are actively interested in doing business with the EU. While the United States is the only country looking to exit the Paris agreement, pledging to sign the pact doesn’t mean countries have all ratified it. At present, <a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">174 countries had ratified, out of 197 signatories</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class="">Two prominent global powers that have yet to ratify the agreement are Russia and Turkey, both of which would be impacted by any decision to tie ratification status to future trade deals. Turkey in particular has long pushed for EU membership, something from which the country’s increasingly authoritarian leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has eased away. Erdoğan <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/turkey-follows-trump-paris-climate-accord-39fb0d573164/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">said in July</a> that Turkey would be making no moves to ratify the deal following Trump’s decision to exit the agreement and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-climatechange-turkey/erdogan-says-u-s-stance-stalls-turkish-ratification-of-paris-climate-deal-idUSKBN19T11R" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">argues</a> that developing countries require additional funds in order to meet the deal’s demands — <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/coal-trump-climate-change-nightmare-668ded63514b/" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">something Trump has resisted</a>. Russia, meanwhile, <a href="http://tass.com/politics/945925" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">has said the deal will likely be ratified in 2019</a>.</p><div style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px;" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="gmail-promo gmail-amp-wp-article-promo" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 2em; font-size: 18.7501px;"><figure class="gmail-post__figure gmail-post__figure--format-article-width" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="gmail-post__thumbnail" style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow: hidden;"><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/membership/?utm_source=thinkprogress&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=promo&utm_content=targeted10" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-style: none;" class=""></a></div></figure></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; font-family: tk-aktiv-grotesk, aktiv-grotesk, sans-serif; font-size: 18.7501px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Some legal experts <a href="http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/no-paris-agreement-no-eu-trade-deal-says-france-to-us" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: inherit; text-decoration: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(195, 171, 255);" class="">have cast doubt</a> over the European Commission’s commitment to standing by its assertions. As a body focused on trade liberalization, environmental concerns are not always a top priority. But the EU has signaled more broadly that a commitment to the Paris agreement will be key in future deals. That means countries agreeing to invest in fighting climate change will have an edge — while countries like the United States will be left behind.</p></div></div></body></html>