In this Oct 22, 2019, file photo, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the Heritage Foundation's annual President's Club Meeting in Washington. (PATRICK SEMANSKY / AP)

WASHINGTON/SHANGHAI/UNITED NATIONS - The United States began on Monday the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, according to a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed that the US' withdrawal will take effect on Nov 4, 2020

US President Donald Trump announced in June 2017 that his country would leave the Paris Agreement.

"The United States of America notified the secretary-general, in his capacity as depositary, its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement of Dec 12, 2015, on Nov 4, 2019," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' spokesperson in New York.  Guterres' spokesperson confirmed in a note to correspondents that the US withdrawal from the agreement will take effect on Nov 4, 2020. 

The US move is part of a broader strategy by Trump to reduce red tape on American industry, but comes at a time scientists and many world governments urge rapid action to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

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Following the US' announcement, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday cooperation between Europe and China on reducing climate-warming emissions will be "decisive".

Speaking in Shanghai at the second China International Import Expo, just after a keynote address by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Macron said commitments will need to be enhanced.

"If we want to be in compliance with the Paris agreement, we will need next year to enhance our commitments to reduce emissions, and we must confirm new commitments for 2030 and 2050," he said.

"The cooperation between China and the European Union in this respect is decisive," Macron added. "Next year, we need, in the agenda of enhancement, to be collectively up to the task."

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign a pact that includes wording on the "irreversibility" of the Paris climate accord, an official from the French presidential office said

Speaking to reporters earlier, a French presidential office official expressed regret at the US move, and said Macron and Xi will sign a pact that includes wording on the "irreversibility" of the Paris climate accord.

"We regret this and this only makes the Franco-Chinese partnership on the climate and biodiversity more necessary," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

"The text that will be signed tomorrow includes a paragraph on the irreversibility of the Paris agreement."

Macron and Xi are due to hold a formal meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

China and France pledged at this year's G20 summit to "update" their contributions against climate change beyond their current ones to reflect "their highest possible ambition".

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The 2015 Paris climate agreement encourages countries to make stronger pledges if they are able to do so.

China aims to bring emissions to a peak by "around 2030" and raise the share of non-fossil fuels in its total energy mix to 20 percent by the end of the next decade, up from 15 percent in 2020.

The United States is the first country to say it will withdraw from the deal, but 10 countries have also failed to ratify it, including Turkey.