CLIMATE CHANGE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/UN: “The United Nations secretary general warned on Tuesday [6-20-17] that an American retreat from the world posed great risks on many issues, including climate change, international conflicts and the refugee crisis, as he announced a visit to Washington to urge members of Congress to support the United Nations.
‘When someone leaves space, that space is always occupied by others,’ the secretary general, António Guterres, said in answer to a question at an hourlong news conference at United Nations headquarters in New York. Mr. Guterres said that if the United States was not engaged in global issues and international relations, ‘it will be unavoidable that other actors occupy that space.’
‘And I don’t think this is good for the United States, and I don’t think this is good for the world,’ he added.
Mr. Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, took the helm of the United Nations on Jan. 1, just weeks before President Trump moved into the White House, having made clear his antipathy to the United Nations and international cooperation generally.”
-Somini Sengupta, “U.N. Chief Warns U.S. of Risks of Rejecting Leadership Role,” The New York Times online, June 20, 2017