marrakesh, morocco<u+2014>a conference intended to start putting an international climate-change deal into effect is ending this weekend with diplomats struggling to define how they will move forward as the u.s. retreats from a leadership role. facing president-elect donald j. trump <u+2019>s promise to cancel the u.s. commitment to cut carbon emissions, other countries<u+2014>including china, the world<u+2019>s other largest polluter<u+2014>said they would push ahead with their own pledges and hoped the u.s. would do the same. but some negotiators here said that a shift by the u.s. would make it harder for nations to follow through on their commitments to impose tighter limits on their industries. the obama administration was instrumental in brokering the climate-change accord among nearly 200 nations last year in paris. china<u+2019>s top negotiator said beijing would press ahead and called on the u.s. to make the <u+201c>right and smart decision<u+201d> to stay the course. india<u+2019>s representative said it would stick with its commitments for now, but was reluctant to say what it would do if the trump administration abandons u.s. pledges. a senior member of the saudi delegation said he thinks the paris deal will keep moving ahead no matter what mr. trump does, but that countries might scale back their efforts without american leadership. <u+201c>the united states is the backbone of this process, and it will impact this process, no doubt,<u+201d> the saudi official said. <u+201c>and we think that there would be a great challenge with ambition.<u+201d> anticipation of the next u.s. move hung over official and informal events at the conference near marrakesh<u+2019>s old walled city. leaders from europe, where support for climate action is often strongest, suggested they would stay the course, but were divided over whether to retaliate should the u.s. withdraw. <u+201c>if mr. trump puts in place his plan to exit from the paris climate accord, i want a carbon tax at the borders of europe that would tax at 1% to 3% all american products,<u+201d> nicolas sarkozy, a former french president who is again seeking the post, told french radio this week. miguel arias ca<u+00f1>ete, the european union<u+2019>s commissioner for climate action and energy, suggested he didn<u+2019>t support that idea. <u+201c>we are not in favor of making up a proposal for a border tax based on assumptions,<u+201d> he said in marrakesh. <u+2018> 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+2019> under the paris accord, the u.s. promised to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% by 2025. the resulting reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 would match russia<u+2019>s entire projected output that year, according to an analysis by the netherlands environmental assessment agency. the goal of paris is to keep average global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees celsius above preindustrial levels through individual national limits on greenhouse-gas emissions. the deal doesn<u+2019>t itself achieve that level of emissions cuts; world leaders hope to make more aggressive cuts through new national plans in the years to come. mr. trump has dismissed any danger from climate change, calling it a hoax created by the chinese. vowing to dismantle president barack obama <u+2019>s climate agenda, he said he would withdraw from the paris deal and end u.s. contributions to a $100 billion fund to help poorer nations address climate change. mr. trump<u+2019>s team has shown no signs of changing course on climate change since the election. <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 this week. chinese officials suggested they wouldn<u+2019>t relish stepping into a leadership role alone, particularly when it comes to financing poorer nations<u+2019> efforts. <u+201c>we are still expecting developed countries, including the united states, will continue to take the lead in mitigating climate change,<u+201d> said liu zhenmin, china<u+2019>s deputy minister of foreign affairs. india, the world<u+2019>s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter and one of the world<u+2019>s fastest-growing economies, has shown ambivalence about adopting climate policies long before mr. trump<u+2019>s election. on thursday, india<u+2019>s environment minister said the country intends to stick to the paris deal<u+2014>for now. <u+201c>we are going to move ahead on that part, and as of now there is no change in that stance,<u+201d> said the minister, anil madhav dave. whether that would still be true should the u.s. pull out, mr. dave said, <u+201c>this is a hypothetical question now. we don<u+2019>t want to react to this right now. we will see it in due course.<u+201d> india, whose greenhouse gas emissions are expected to rise, pledged in paris that at least 40% of its electricity by 2030 would come from energy sources other than oil, coal or natural gas. world leaders released a statement concluding the conference that negotiators described as showing the <u+201c>irreversible momentum on climate change.<u+201d> though not unique to the marrakesh gathering, the statement had extra weight given mr. trump<u+2019>s win, according to people involved in the negotiations. among the most delicate tasks in morocco fell to secretary of state john kerry, who was there representing a president deeply concerned by climate change while anticipating one who rejects its existence. <u+201c>i know it has left some here and elsewhere feeling uncertain about the future,<u+201d> mr. kerry told the delegates. <u+201c>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> write to amy harder at amy.harder@wsj.com
nations vow to stick to climate pledges<u+2014>for now - wsj
amy harder