Japanese government officials, business leaders, and environmental groups expressed regret Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that America was withdrawing from the Paris Climate Change Agreement, but vowed to find ways to work with the U.S. on tackling climate change.

However, there were also warnings from Japanese climate change activists that pro-fossil fuel politicians, bureaucrats, and business leaders should not view Trump's decision as an excuse to scale back Japan's own efforts to meet the goals of the Paris agreement.

The accord, signed in 2015 by nearly 200 parties and ratified by 148, seeks to hold the increase in the global average temperature to less than 2 degrees above pre-Industrial Revolution levels, and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees via voluntary national targets aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists conclude that failure will likely lead to dangerous, irreversible levels of climate change.