French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the UN General  Assembly

President Macron is accompanied by Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian and Minister of Environment Nicolas Hulot. In his speech at the 72^nd UN General Assembly, the French President repeated the statement “Our primary common good is our planet” which he made at the Ambassadors’ Week 2017 in August in Paris. Macron also attended a conference to discuss the Global Environment Treaty within the framework of the UN General Assembly. The draft treaty covering international law on the environment was compiled by 80 international experts. France had worked hard to have the draft treaty discussed at the conference, but it will be a challenge to include it in official negotiations at the UN. According to the Elysee, such negotiations are likely to last for several months or even years.

Macron is scheduled to meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the “Leaders’ dialogue on climate change” which will involve 20 state leaders. At this dialogue, France’s initiative to host a summit on financing and implementing of the Paris agreement, which it  announced in July at end of G20 summit in Germany, is expected to be confirmed.  President Macron will meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the environment and reiterate France’s pledge to realize the Paris Agreement on climate change. Macron will also meet with representatives of international NGOs working in the field of international solidarity, the defense of human rights, and the fight against climate change.

At a press conference on the sideline of the UN General Assembly, French Foreign Minister Le Drian said France hopes to persuade the US President to change the US’s position on the Paris Agreement. In June, President Trump announced the US’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. In an announcement to the UN Secretary General in August, President Trump reiterated the decision but left open the possibility of the US participating sometime in the future.