Macron expressed his hope that the United States would re-enter the Paris climate accord, which President Donald Trump exited early in his Administration and told Congress to "make our planet great again".
"Some people think that securing current industries and their jobs is more urgent than transforming our economies to meet the challenge of global change," he said. "I hear ... but we must find a transition to a low carbon economy. What is the meaning of our life, really, if we work and live destroying the planet, while sacrificing the future of our children?"
He said he believed US and French disagreement on the climate issue was "short term," and that "in the long run, we will have to face the same realities. We're just citizens of the same planet."
He added: "Let's face it: There is no Planet B."
Macron's trip has been dominated by rifts between the US and the European Union stemming from Trump's "America First" foreign policy. With the US threatening to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and impose tariffs on its trading partners, the French leader set out an alternative world view in which nations act together to control dangers and help the middle classes.
"The United States is the one who invented this multilaterism," he said. "You are the one now who has to help to preserve and reinvent it."
On Iran, he repeated his support for the nuclear trade deal and outlined a four-part solution to Trump's concerns about the deal and Iranian expansionism in the Middle East.
"Our objective is clear. Iran shall never possess any nuclear weapons," he said as the chamber rose with applause. "Not now. Not in five years. Not in 10 years. Ne-ver."
"But this policy should never lead us to war in the Middle East," he said, adding that respect for sovereignty must include Iran, "which represents a great civilisation."
"Let us not replicate past mistakes," he said. "Let us not be naive on one side ... let us not create new wars on the other side."
Macron was loudly cheered by Democrats while some passages drew only sparse applause from the Republicans.
The US Capitol has a long history as a setting for French leaders looking to make their mark on world affairs. The Marquis de Lafayette, a French general who fought for the US in the Revolutionary War, was the first foreign dignitary to address Congress in 1824 and Macron's speech comes on the anniversary of one by Charles de Gaulle in 1960. Nicolas Sarkozy was the last French president to appear before US lawmakers in 2007.
Macron the previous day had proposed a new agreement with Iran in an effort to persuade Trump not to reimpose sanctions. The new pact would extend restrictions on its nuclear programme, restrict its ballistic missile work and limit Iran's broader influence in the Middle East.
While some Republican leaders criticise the existing deal's limited scope and the way it was negotiated, they have also been hesitant to pull out and start again from scratch.
"As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it," Ed Royce, the California Republican who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in an October committee hearing.
Mike Pompeo, the CIA director who Trump has nominated to be his next secretary of state, has harshly criticised both the nuclear and the Iranian regime. His promotion was received by many in Congress as a sign that Trump intends to pull out of the accord. The President has to decide by May 12, the deadline to extend a waiver on sanctions, a key plank of US obligations under the deal.
Trump yesterday seemed at least somewhat interested in Macron's blueprint, calling it a "new deal" with "solid foundations." Teams of American negotiators have been working with European allies for weeks on a new accord along the lines of what Macron laid out. Like Macron, their biggest challenge is the absence of any guarantee that Trump will accept the result.
On trade, Macron, a former investment banker and economy minister, is more in line with traditional Republicans than their own president. Macron's recognition that some countries engage in trade violations and overcapacity of steel and aluminum - but that Europe isn't the problem - tracks closely with House Speaker Paul Ryan's response to Trump's tariff announcement last month.
Congressional Republicans have urged the Trump Administration to be more targeted in its trade policy, rather than instituting broad measures that impact traditional allies like France. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit the White House Friday with a similar message.
- Bloomberg, Washington Post
