António Guterres says treaty will endure but urges US to remain amid reports of Republican plan to withdraw from the climate negotiating framework entirely

The world needs the US to remain in the international climate process to avoid a “crippled” Paris agreement, the UN secretary general has warned, amid fears that Donald Trump would take the country out of the accord for a second time.

António Guterres said the landmark 2015 agreement to limit global heating would endure if the US withdrew once again, but compared the prospective departure to losing a limb or organ.

“The Paris agreement can survive, but people sometimes can lose important organs or lose the legs and survive. But we don’t want a crippled Paris agreement. We want a real Paris agreement,” the UN secretary general said.

If the Republican candidate wins, his administration could withdraw the US from the UN climate negotiating framework entirely, according to reports. If he does so, it could require Senate approval for the US to rejoin.