Washington: US President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next US envoy to the United Nations on Wednesday defended her record on climate change, saying it is a "real risk to our planet" that must be addressed.
Kelly Knight Craft told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that she believes human behaviour has contributed to climate change and she'll push countries deal with it.
However, she also said the United States should not have to bear an "outsized burden" in mitigating its effects that harm American economic growth.
Her comments came in response to questions from Democrats on the panel prompted by previous remarks she made doubting the causes and severity of climate change and suggesting that climate change skeptics have valid arguments.
Democrats were also concerned about possible conflicts of interest as she holds extensive investments in fossil fuels.
The Trump administration has been criticized by environmentalists and scientists for rolling back regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and announcing its withdrawal, effective next year, from the Paris Climate Accord that aimed to limit climate change.
Craft has been credited by supporters with playing a major role in her current role in helping to secure a proposed new trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico but has been criticized for frequent absences from Ottawa.
Republican senators, including Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, downplayed the significance of her absences and pointed to her involvement in trade negotiations as one reason for the time away.
She vowed to continue the efforts of Trump's first ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, to push for reform at the world body and to fight against anti-Israel resolutions and actions by the United Nations and its affiliated agencies.
During Haley's tenure, the administration withdrew from the U.N. Human Rights Council and the UN educational and scientific agency for adopting positions it deemed to be hostile to Israel.
