Trump: Climate change scientists have a "political agenda"

US President Donald Trump has accused climate change scientists of having a "political agenda", questioning the responsibility of humans in rising temperatures on the planet.

But Mr Trump also said that he no longer believed that climate change was a hoax.

The comments, formulated during an interview with CBS '60-minute show, come less than a week after climate scientists issued a final call to end rising temperatures.

Leading scientists around the world agree that climate change is man-made.

Last week's report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the world's leading climate change assessment body – warned that the world was heading for a rise in global warming. temperature of 3C.

Scientists say that natural fluctuations in temperature are exacerbated by human activity – which has caused about 1 ° C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.

According to the report, maintaining the preferred target of 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels will mean "rapid changes, of far-reaching and unprecedented scope in all aspects of society".

Climate change was only one topic discussed during the large-scale interview, during which Mr. Trump also:

• He said that "the day before" he had taken office, but that the United States was about to "go to war with North Korea"
• Russian President Vladimir Putin was "probably" involved in assassinations, but added: "I press them, it is not in our country"
• Russia mingled with the 2016 elections but added: "I think China has gotten mixed up too"
• Refused to say he would reinstate the separation policy of migrant children but added "there must be consequences" to enter the United States illegally
• He said he thought he treated Christine Blasey Ford with "respect" after being mocked by his testimony in front of thousands of people at a rally. "If I did not say that, we would not have won"

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What did Trump say about climate change?

During Sunday's interview, Trump questioned possible changes, saying the scientists "have a very big political agenda".

"I do not think it's a hoax, I think there's probably a difference," he told journalist Lesley Stahl.

"But I do not know if it's done by the man, I'll say it, I do not want to give billions and billions of dollars, I do not want to lose millions and millions of dollars." I do not want to be put at a disadvantage. "

Mr. Trump added that the temperatures "could very well go up", without saying how.

What did Trump say before?

He said climate change was a hoax during his election campaign in 2016, but has generally avoided taking a clear stance on the issue since taking office.

However, he announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change, which commits 187 other countries to maintain the rise in global temperatures "well below" 2 ° C above the levels pre-industrial and "strive to limit" still further, to 1.5 ° C.

At the time, Trump had said he wanted to negotiate a new "fair" deal that would not disadvantage American businesses and workers.

This sparked speculation that the former reality TV star still believed that climate change had been invented.

However, Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, later said that Mr. Trump "thought that the climate was changing and that he thought pollutants were part of the equation".

What is the magnitude of the climate threat?

The report released last week by the IPCC indicates that climate change can only be halted if the world makes major and costly changes.

This means reducing global CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2010 levels by 2030, reduce coal use to almost zero and use up to 7 million. km 2 for terrestrial energy crops.

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Researchers warn that if the world does not act, significant and dangerous changes will occur, including sea level rise, significant impacts on the temperature and the acidity of the oceans and the sea. ability to grow crops such as rice, corn and wheat.

Renewable energies also create jobs

By Roger Harrabin BBC Analyst for the Environment

President Trump's views on climate change have largely evolved, along with his comments on many issues.

A small number of knowledgeable scientists now disagree that humans have been at the root of recent climate change and that further warming will result in serious climate risks.

They do not expect the climate to cool significantly again in a natural cycle.

The president said that he did not want to spend billions of dollars and lose millions of jobs by reducing emissions.

Of course not, but all governments have the same feeling. Instead, they are trying to refocus the huge investment required in renewable energy into a profitable venture.

The United Kingdom's industrial strategy, for example, aims to create jobs in clean industries to replace those lost in dirty factories.

And in the United States itself, the solar industry creates many more jobs than the coal sector. Does the president know?