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Emmanuel Macron teams up with Arnold Schwarzeneggar to take swipe at Donald Trump on climate change

Both the French President and the actor are known for criticism of Mr Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement

Saturday 24 June 2017 15:06 BST
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Arnold Schwarzenegger takes a selfie video with Emmanuel Macron talking about a clean energy future

Former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzeneggar has teamed up French President Emmanuel Macron in a new video pledging to make "the planet great again" in a swipe at US President Donald Trump.

Both Mr Macron and Mr Schwarzeneggar are known for their outspoken criticism of Mr Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement.

The historic 2015 agreement signed by 195 countries and ratified by 147 aims to reduce carbon emissions and contain global warming. But after Mr Trump withdrew US participation, it will no longer include the world's second largest polluter.

Mr Macron - who along with a number of other European leaders has decried the decision to have America withdraw from the deal - has called on US scientists to emigrate to France. He has needled Mr Trump by using the phrase "Make our planet great again" - a riff on the US President's campaign slogan of "Make America great again".

As for Mr Schwarzeneggar, he is a noted supporter of climate-friendly policies and in a video posted earlier this month he said that "one man cannot destroy our progress".

In the latest video - viewed nearly 1.5 million times - Mr Schwarzenegger said that he and Mr Macron had been “talking about environmental issues and a green future” together.

The footage was posted on Twitter with the former film star and California governor saying he was “truly honoured” to meet Mr Macron, adding that the pair would “work together for a clean energy future”.

The 10-second clip runs for the full duration with the caption: “With President Macron, a great leader!”

It ends with Macron bringing out his new catchphrase: “We will deliver together to make the planet great again.”

Mr Macron has also promised to play an active role in a campaign aimed at securing a global pact to protect the human right to a clean and healthy environment.

He made the pledge at a meeting at Sorbonne University on Saturday where politicians, legal experts and activists presented him with draft proposals for such a pact.

“On the basis of this draft proposal, I pledge to act ...so that the work initiated continues, so that we reach a text, convince our partners, place these efforts under the aegis of the U.N ... and from September have the basis of a world environment pact,” Mr Macron told his audience.

The pact should eventually be put to the United Nations for adoption and impose legally-binding obligations on signatory states, its drafters - comprising legal experts from several countries - have said.

Attendees at the Sorbonne included former Mr Schwarzenegger and former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon. It was chaired by former prime minister Laurent Fabius, who chaired the 2015 conference on climate change.

Agencies contributed to this report

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