marrakesh, morocco<u+2014>secretary of state john kerry sought to reassure attendees at a united nations conference that president-elect donald trump, who has vowed to reverse president barack obama <u+2019>s ambitious climate agenda, won<u+2019>t slow global efforts to address climate change. <u+201c>i know it has left some here and elsewhere feeling uncertain about the future,<u+201d> mr. kerry told the government delegates, climate advocates and business leaders at the conference. <u+201c>while i can<u+2019>t stand here and speculate about what policies our president-elect will pursue, i will tell you this: in the time i have spent in public life, one of the things i have learned, some issues look a little bit different when you<u+2019>re actually in office compared to when you<u+2019>re on the campaign trail,<u+201d> the secretary of state said. the remarks, which came near the end of a roughly hourlong speech, are in line with what nearly all world leaders and other government officials at the conference have said about mr. trump following through on his campaign promises. the president-elect, who has called climate change a hoax created by the chinese, has vowed to withdraw from the global deal struck last year in paris to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, and to stop u.s. funding toward a $100 billion global fund to help poorer nations address climate change. he has said he would roll back mr. obama<u+2019>s climate regulations, including one cutting carbon emissions from power plants that is the pillar of the u.s. commitment to the paris deal. the obama administration was instrumental in crafting and ratifying the paris deal. mr. kerry<u+2019>s speech, his last on climate change as secretary of state, touched on the impacts of climate change and business opportunities of renewable energy, and included many veiled references to mr. trump, who has made comments indicating he disputes the scientific consensus that humans<u+2019> burning of fossil fuels is helping cause the earth<u+2019>s temperature to rise. <u+201c>and no one, no one should doubt the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the u.s. who know climate change is happening and who are determined to keep our commitments in paris,<u+201d> mr. kerry said, drawing cheers from the audience. but for now the president-elect<u+2019>s team shows no signs of changing position. <u+201c>as part of our pro-american energy plan, we said we<u+2019>d withdraw from the deal,<u+201d> transition spokesman jason miller said in a statement to the wall street journal earlier this week. other government officials speaking at the u.n. conference refused to answer questions directly about the ramifications if mr. trump were to pull the u.s. out of the global climate negotiations. <u+201c>the u.s. is a serious country and they will be up to the task,<u+201d> said european union commissioner miguel arias ca<u+00f1>ete at a press conference wednesday. <u+201c>we prefer to see it with optimism. i prefer the glass nearly full than the glass nearly empty. we will continue fulfilling our obligation.<u+201d> china, which along with the u.s. are the two biggest emitting countries in the world, also urged the incoming administration to stay on the course that mr. obama has set. <u+201c>as the largest economy in the world, as the largest developed country, u.s. support will be essential,<u+201d> said liu zhenmin, deputy minister of foreign affairs, at a press conference wednesday. <u+201c>we<u+2019>ll have to wait and see what position they<u+2019>ll take. we have to expect they will make the right and smart decision to hold up the deal.<u+201d> in response to mr. trump<u+2019>s 2012 statement on his twitter account that the chinese created <u+201c>the concept of global warming<u+201d> to make u.s. manufacturing less competitive, mr. liu pointed to past republican support for global climate diplomacy, including the intergovernmental panel on climate change, an organization created by u.n. agencies to assess climate science. <u+201c>if you look at the history of climate change negotiations, actually it was initiated by the ipcc with the support of the republicans during the reagan and senior bush administration during the late 1980s,<u+201d> mr. liu said. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s why i hope there will be a republican administration [that] will continue to support this process.<u+201d> write to amy harder at amy.harder@wsj.com
donald trump won<u+2019>t slow efforts to fight climate change, john kerry predicts - wsj
amy harder