On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris accord, saying that the world needed “the courage to confront hard truths” on global warming.
In recent years, catastrophes such as the Fort McMurray wildfires and the recent string of flooding events across Canada have cost the insurance industry billions of dollars and climate change is believed to be exacerbating conditions that lead to these dangerous and costly natural disasters.
“The future is still bright for those who have the courage to confront hard truths, and the confidence to stay the course,” Trudeau said in public remarks after paddling along the Niagara River in celebration of World Environment Day.
“Canada will not back down from its commitment to fight climate change - and we are not alone. Around the world, nearly every country is on our side.”
“Inaction is not an option,” he stressed. “We can’t walk away from the reality of climate change.”
Trudeau’s remarks were the first he has made in public since Trump announced last week that the US would pull out from the climate change pact, Reuters reported. At the time of Trump’s declaration of withdrawal, Trudeau issued a statement saying that he was “deeply disappointed.”
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