California governor seizes COP30 focus

BELÉM, Nov 12 (AFP): With US President Donald Trump skipping the UN's climate summit in the Amazon, California Governor Gavin Newsom grabbed the spotlight Tuesday and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the fossil fuel agenda of his political nemesis.

The well-coiffed Democrat-seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate-blasted Trump for twice leaving the Paris climate accord and for "doubling down on stupid" through his support of Big Oil.

Newsom said a future Democratic administration would rejoin the Paris Agreement "without hesitation."

"It's a moral commitment, it's an economic imperative," Newsom said in response to a question by AFP in Belem, the Brazilian Amazon city in northern Para state hosting the climate summit known as COP30.