MEXICO CITY: Mexico, a country hailed as a leader on fighting global warming, called the commitments made in the Paris climate pact a "moral imperative" Thursday after its neighbor the United States withdrew from the deal.
"We will continue promoting international cooperation, without restrictions, to see the accord implemented in full," Mexico's foreign and environment ministries said in a statement.
Climate change is "an incontrovertible fact based on scientific evidence," it said. "Taking action to slow climate change is a moral imperative."
President Enrique Pena Nieto also reaffirmed his support for the deal, tweeting that "Mexico maintains its backing and commitment to the Paris accord."
Mexico was the first emerging country to announce its commitments to cut greenhouse gases in the build-up to the deal, in March 2015. Environmental groups praised its ambitious targets and leadership.
That is in stark contrast with its giant neighbor to the north, where President Donald Trump stoked anger Thursday with his announcement that the United States was pulling out of the hard-won, 195-country deal.
Mexico's relations with the US -- its crucial trading partner -- have been strained since Trump took office in January vowing to build a wall on the US-Mexican border and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he says has shipped American jobs to Mexico.