Trump has cast the climate accord as elitist, saying when announcing his decision that he was "elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris."
"The Paris agreement could be an exception or could become the norm for multilateral cooperation in the 21st century," Figueres told reporters Thursday.
Costa Rican Christiana Figueres was awarded the Medal of Paris on Wednesday for helping broker the historic, 195-nation deal to avert climate change that was sealed in the French capital last week.
Envoys from 195 nations approved Saturday an accord to stop global warming, offering hope that humanity can avert catastrophic climate change and usher in an energy revolution.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, on the brink of tears after presiding over nearly a fortnight of talks in Paris, delivered the proposal to ministers who must now decide whether to approve it, possibly within hours.
The French host of U.N. talks aimed at saving mankind from climate catastrophe said Thursday a historic accord was "extremely close," but called for unprecedented compromises during a second night of non-stop negotiations.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry's promise of additional money came as negotiators struggled to resolve differences over financial assistance to developing economies, one of the thorniest issues to emerge in the talks so far.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Mitigating the expected ravages of climate change – let alone investing in sustainable infrastructure projects – won’t come cheap, say finance experts who calculate the cost at a staggering $110 billion a year for Latin America alone.
