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Obama says no country 'immune' from climate change

US former President Barack Obama (L) speaks with Sam Kass, food entrepreneur and former White House chef, during the third edition of "Seed & Chips: The Global Food Innovation Summit" focussing on new technologies for feeding the globe, from agriculture to distribution, on May 9, 2017 in Milan. (Photo by AFP)

Former US President Barack Obama has voiced alarm about climate change, warning that no country would be safe.

No country, "large or small, rich or poor, will be immune from the impacts of climate change," Obama warned on Tuesday at a food summit in Milan, Italy.

Speaking at the Seeds & Chips Global Food Innovation Summit he said, “Our changing climate is already making it more difficult to produce food".

Obama's warning comes amid speculations that President Donald Trump, who is a skeptic of climate change, could pull the US out of the landmark Paris Agreement, reached at the end of 2015.

Under that agreement, world leaders agreed to make sure global warming stayed "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Climate change is a hoax “created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive,” Trump said during his election campaign.

However, the former US president insisted on Tuesday that both the US and China were responsible to lead the way in the fight against climate change.

"It's important that big countries that are big emitters like the US and China... lead the way," and others follow suit, Obama told the summit.

"The current [Trump] administration has differences with my administration in terms of environmental policy," he said.

"Because of the debates taking place in the current administration the steps may be taken more slowly than they would have been done, but I'm confident," he added.

"The good news is the private sector has already made a determination that the future is clean energy. Those things are locked in now, into the energy sector," Obama added

During his election campaign last year, Trump had vowed to pull out of the Paris climate deal, if elected.

World leaders pose for a family picture during the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, November 30, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Meanwhile, an important White House meeting scheduled for Tuesday to discuss whether to honor the Paris accord or not, was postponed.

No new date was set for future.

Apparently, after months of uncertainty, the Trump administration has decided to honor the Paris deal.


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