US climate commitment 'irreversible'

France president Francois Hollande warned Donald Trump on Saturday that US commitments to reducing climate change and global warming are "irreversible".

US president-elect Trump has previously claimed climate change is a "hoax" and promised to cancel the hard-won Paris climate agreement aimed at pegging global warming at 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial age levels.

But a day after a United Nations climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco ended, Hollande warned the businessman turned reality TV star that he has no choice but to respect the commitments made by his predecessor as US president, Barack Obama.

"This Paris agreement... is irreversible, no one can get out of it," said Hollande during a speech in the southwest of France.

"And even if he could be tempted, there will be forces, amongst them American democracy, who will ensure that it is respected."

The Paris accord went into effect on November 4 after surpassing the necessary twin targets of 55 countries and countries producing 55 percent of greenhouse gases ratifying the agreement that was adopted at the UN climate conference in December 2015.

Source: AFP