UN climate talks have expressed reservations about making changes to the Paris agreement just to keep the US in the treaty. Speculation has increased that Trump may withdraw the America over fears it could hamper his oil and gas reforms. There have been suggestions that the US might stay in, if it was allowed to lower its targets.
But delegates here say countries should raise not cut their commitments. There were just seven negotiators from the US as over 2,000 gathered here for the first day of UN climate talks.
Diplomats are concerned that the small American team bodes ill for their future participation in the Paris climate agreement. Last year, the US sent about 40 delegates to the Bonn May meeting, roughly the same number as China.
This year’s team of seven is three fewer than the delegation from Belize, a smaller and much poorer nation than the US. The US State department told news agencies that the reason for the small team was because the US was still working out its climate priorities.
"We are focused on ensuring that decisions are not taken at these meetings that would prejudice our future policy, undermine the competitiveness of US businesses, or hamper our broader objective of advancing US economic growth and prosperity," a spokesperson said.