The U.S. is withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement: a wake-up call for reforming the world, according to Tim Tubiana
The Paris Agreement commits almost every country in the world to a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Trump has argued the agreement imposes unfair burdens on the American economy, and he withdrew the U.S. during his first term in office. The U.S. was rejoined in 2021, under the Presidency of Joe Biden.
He said he was pulling his support for the Paris climate accord after loud applause from the audience. The United States will not sabotage its own industries, as China is doing.
China is currently the largest global emitter of greenhouse gases, though it also leads the world in the deployment of renewable energy. U.S. emissions have been decreasing since the mid-2000s, but it remains the largest historical contributor of total carbon dioxide emissions.
“This short-sighted move shows a disregard for science and the well-being of people around the world, including Americans, who are already losing their homes, livelihoods, and loved ones as a result of climate change,” says Jonathan Foley, executive director of the climate charity Project Drawdown.
“Even now…we’re seeing these droughts, storms, heat waves, flooding, sea level rise accelerating,” Cleetus said. It is stunning the kinds of impacts that are unfolding.
The EU Climate Foundation’s CEO said that the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is unfortunate. She said international climate action has proved to be stronger than any country’s politics and policies.
“This moment should be a wake-up call to reform the system and make sure that those most affected – communities and individuals on the frontlines – are at the center of our collective governance,” Tubiana said.
Trump’s Day One Travel Ban: Challenges to the US Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, Challenges from Laws, and Court Challenges
The world is not on track to meet these goals. Last year was the hottest in human history, as global average temperatures hovered around that 1.5 degree Celsius level of warming.
The United Nations ambassador was directed to send a formal notice of the US’s departure. (Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the U.N., New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.) The order states that the U.S. will leave immediately, but the Paris Agreement states that the process will take a full year.
Trump has been hostile to many renewable energy initiatives and other climate measures, including efforts to promote electric vehicles. The nominee to lead the EPA, Lee Zeldin, acknowledged the reality of climate change in his confirmation hearing, but had indicated that the Trump Administration would try to roll back many environmental regulations.
Trump also issued a barrage of other orders Monday aimed at boosting fossil fuels and undoing Biden-era initiatives to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He revoked the orders of Biden on climate change and declared a national energy emergency. There are new orders telling agencies to roll back restrictions on offshore drilling.
Some climate policies could be included in the Biden administration, including new fees for methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
The executive order also rescinds the US International Climate Finance Plan—a Biden administration increase in international climate finance that reached over $11 billion a year by 2024. “Essentially it’s the world’s richest country turning its back on the the poorest countries at the time when they are suffering the most,” says Bob Ward, policy director at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change the the Environment.
While Trump’s day-one executive orders are far-reaching, it’s not yet clear how they will be implemented or how quickly they will be felt. When Trump issued his travel ban executive order in January of last year, courts challenged it because they claimed that it appeared to violate the US Constitution.
