Protesters Send 'Wake Up Call' to Trump to Stay in Paris Climate Agreement

Hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday in front of the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., with alarm clocks to “wake up” President Donald Trump to the climate crisis, as the Trump administration is expected to decide soon whether to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.

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“The Peoples Climate Movement demands that this administration commits to staying in the Paris Agreement, fully commit to implementing the Clean Power Plan, and go even further in terms of action to address climate to curb global warming,” the group which organized the protest said in a statement.

Another rally will be held in New York’s Trump Tower "to #TeachTrump about climate change inside his own home.” The Peoples Climate Movement also aimed at calling on New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer to divest the city's pension funds from the fossil fuel industry.

Main advisors to President Trump and Cabinet officers were due to meet on Tuesday to decide whether Trump should keep his campaign promise to pull the U.S. out of the Paris agreement. The meeting was later postponed due to scheduling conflicts, a White House official said.

Despite constant calls from activists and scientists, some powerful U.S. conservatives in Washington reaffirmed opposition to the Paris deal.

"Remaining in the Paris Climate Treaty would undermine the Trump administration's efforts to protect American families from unnecessary and burdensome climate regulations," said Thomas Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, who served on Trump's transition team.

Trump has promised to announce a decision before a Group of Seven summit at the end of May, but the White House official did not say when the meeting would be rescheduled.

The Paris Agreement, forged by nearly 200 countries in 2015, seeks to limit planetary warming by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases from burning fossil fuels. Under the agreement, the U.S. pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emission by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.

French President-elect Emmanuel Macron said he would defend the Paris agreement in a telephone call with Trump on Monday.

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"He is going to protect the climate change agreement, and he is going to make sure he will be vigilant in protecting the French people," Macron’s spokeswoman Laurence Haim told CNN.

Representatives of countries that are party to the agreement are meeting in Bonn, Germany, this week to discuss technical aspects of implementing the accord. The U.S. sent a delegation but it only has seven officials, much smaller than in previous years.

Chairman of the talks, Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, said global momentum to combat climate change was irreversible and it would be "difficult or foolish" for anyone to defy public pressure for action.

On Tuesday, former U.S. President Barack Obama told a food industry conference he was confident that the United States would keep moving "in the right direction" on climate change.

"Because of current debate in Washington, it could be that policies move more slowly but I am confident that the United States will continue to move in the right direction," he said.