Labour and Sinn Fein have expressed disappointment following the announcement by US President Donald Trump that he is to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Sinn Fein Environment spokesperson Brian Stanley TD said the world needs to move together on the climate change issue.

He said: "This is important to all of humanity and these actions are taking us back decades. The government now needs to use its influence to encourage maximum co-operation.

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"We must remember also that Ireland is playing catch up in terms of our climate change obligations. The Environmental Protection Agency Report in April highlighted that we will not reach our emissions targets or our renewable energy targets for 2020. This is a damning indictment on successive government's policies on climate change."

Labour spokesperson on Climate Change, Sean Sherlock TD, said: "I am really dismayed by President Trump's announcement that the US will no longer honour its Paris Climate Accord commitments.

"This historic agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 nations in 2015 including Ireland, marked a major milestone in global efforts to tackle climate change, acknowledging the threat as 'urgent and potentially irreversible'.

"Ireland now must up the ante with its own commitment to tackling the impact of climate change and resolve to increase efforts in this regard."

(CD)