Former President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that the Paris climate agreement still has a chance regardless of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal last week, according to a report.
Obama said he “took great comfort” in hearing last week that U.S. states, cities and companies remain dedicated to implementing commitments made in the Paris agreement, according to the Associated Press.
The former president also said, at an event in Montreal, that even without the America’s presence in the agreement, the deal “will still give our children a fighting chance.”
Obama released a statement expressing his disappointment immediately following the president’s announcement about withdrawing the U.S. from the agreement.
“I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack,” the 44th president said in a statement released by his office. “But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of national that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one plant we’ve got.”
The Obama administration was one of the leading negotiators in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which seeks to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
