Congressman says 'God will take care of climate change' if it is real

The comment comes as Donald Trump is set to make an announcement on the Paris Agreement on climate change

Republican Congressman Tim Walberg has said that God will address climate change if it is real and that humans can do nothing to help the planet.

The Michigan House member was speaking in Coldwater, Michigan when he said he believes “there’s been climate change since the beginning of time. I believe there are cycles. Do I think man has some impact? Yeah, of course. Can man change the entire universe? No.”

He went on to say that as a Christian he has faith that “if there’s a real problem, [God] can take care of it.”

The comments come just before Donald Trump is set to make an announcement on whether the US will stay in the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, which almost 200 countries signed in an effort to lower carbon emissions and tackle the effects of global warming.

Scientists at NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), maritime security agency Coast Guard, the United Nations, independent multidisciplinary commissions of researches, and seemingly every country except Nicaragua and Syria have concurred that climate change is real and caused by human activity.

Mr Trump's Secretary of Defence James Mattis, the Pentagon, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - a former Exxon Mobil CEO have all urged the president to acknowledge the need to fight climate change by staying in the Paris Agreement.

The December 2015 agreement was ratified through an executive order by President Obama in order to bypass climate sceptics - like Mr Walberg - in Congress.

However, Mr Trump is likely being influenced by his repeated campaign promises to bring back coal industry jobs to the US, climate denier and EPA head Scott Pruitt, as well as aide Steve Bannon.