Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron regretted on Thursday that it is difficult to be heard in the fight against global warming between the "Greta Club" Thunberg and the "Donald Club" Trump.
In the climate debate, there is "Greta's club and Donald's club," the head of state said, referring to the 16-year-old Swedish activist and the climate-skeptical American president.
"There are plenty of people who want to change but it's really hard because it's never going fast enough for Greta and it's still too much for Donald," he added during a discussion Thursday. morning at the Elysée with 80 students and researchers laureates of the program "Make our planet great again" launched two years ago.
"There are people who say with Greta: + you do not do anything, you are worthless +, which is hopeless, confusing and which, in my opinion, does not move people, and there are those with Donald who say : + it is useless what you do, it will never work + ", he added, shortly before leaving for a European summit dedicated to the climate issue.
"I would like us to do our own club" with the aim of "getting people to change their behavior, understand that it is possible and accompany them," he continued.
Mr. Macron asked the researchers present to help "convince decision makers and opinion" to "make change acceptable" in order to fight against global warming.
The head of state made the remarks while Donald Trump described as "ridiculous" Time magazine's choice to make Greta Thunberg the "personality of the year" 2019.
At the Elysee Palace, Mr Macron gave an update on the initiative he launched on 1 June 2017 to react to the US decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement, by diverting the formula from Donald Trump "Make our country great again". He then appealed to researchers and students to join France to lead the fight against global warming, and 60 million euros had been released to accommodate them.
Some 200 doctoral students, post-docs and researchers have been selected, but the number of them from the United States remains limited to about forty.
© 2019 AFP