PARIS (Reuters) – Campaigners on Thursday unfurled a vast mocked-up poster in front of the Eiffel Tower of French President Emmanuel Macron turning his back on a planet in flames, to press for more action on climate change five years on from the Paris accord.
“Paris Agreement in flames, Macron looks away,” read the caption under the poster, which was laid out on an esplanade overlooking the Eiffel Tower.
The agreement signed in Paris between almost 200 states on Dec. 12, 2015 was hailed as a potential turning point in efforts to contain global warming.
But the United States exited the deal, and campaigners say other states, including France, have failed to push hard enough to reduce carbon emissions.
“Emmanuel Macron … positions himself as the great champion of the climate and great protector the Paris Agreement but in fact he isn’t,” said Jean-Francois Julliard, head of the French chapter of Greenpeace, one of the groups that organised Thursday’s protest.
The French government says it is committed to reducing carbon emissions and that it had a strong record of environmental initiatives.
(Reporting by Antony Paone; Writing by Christian Lowe, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
