U.S. withdrawal from Paris climate deal unlikely to impact emissions

[June 14, 2017]    LONDON (Reuters) - The withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate pact is unlikely to have a direct impact on the expected decline in global carbon emissions, BP's <BP.L> chief economist said on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump leaves after attending an event welcoming the Clemson Tigers, the 2016 NCAA Football National Champions, at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

"Nearly all the improvement in (carbon reduction) comes from the developing world, it isn't coming from OECD or America," Spencer Dale said during a presentation of BP's annual Statistical Review of World Energy.

The reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in recent years has been a result of cheaper natural gas pushing out more polluting coal rather than regulations, he said.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by David Clarke)

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