Al Gore holds 'productive' meeting with Trump

Former US Vice President Al Gore, known for championing the fight against climate change, on Monday described his meeting with President-elect Donald Trump as a "productive" session

"It was a sincere search for areas of common ground," said Gore, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his efforts to curb climate change.

"I found it an extremely interesting conversation and, to be continued," Gore added.

Trump, who threatened to upend the 2015 Paris accord during his campaign, has vehemently denied the existence of climate change, describing it as a foreign "hoax."

"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive," Trump said in a tweet.

"Let's continue to destroy the competiveness of our factories and manufacturing so we can fight mythical global warming. China is so happy," he said in another tweet.

Since his electoral victory in November, Trump has eased his tone on climate change, saying he has an "open mind" towards the relationship between human activity and climate change.

"I think there is some connectivity. Some, something. It depends on how much," Trump said during a post-election interview with "The New York Times."

The meeting comes as Trump works to fill his cabinet, with an expected announcement on his state secretary, the US' top diplomatic role, this week.

ls/bw (Reuters, AP)