"As U.S. Cedes Leadership on Climate, Others Step Up at Davos"

"DAVOS, Switzerland — When the chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s national oil and gas company mapped out a glowing future for fossil fuels at a discussion in Davos this past week, dissent came from an unexpected corner of the room.

“We have to make a big push in renewables investment,” urged Qiao Baoping, chairman of the energy giant China Guodian. “We have commitments under the Paris accord which we cannot fail to fulfill,” he said, referring to the climate deal passed in 2015.

Under the Obama administration, the United States took on a climate leadership role. But President Trump has threatened to quit the Paris climate deal, and within minutes of his taking office on Friday, the White House website removed a discussion of the threat of climate change and replaced it with a commitment to eliminate cornerstone environmental policies.

If the United States is willing to cede its role, however, there are plenty of countries happy to step up."

Hiroko Tabuchi reports for the New York Times January 21, 2017.