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this us Officially withdrawn from landmark Paris climate agreement second time – strengthen Donald TrumpTrying to prevent the United States from participating in the fight against the climate crisis.
this us It became the only country to withdraw from the deal; it joins Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries not to sign the deal. The move, announced when Trump returned to the White House last year, is one of the keys to Trump’s “America First” policy, which aims to cut Washington out of international treaties and organizations that he believes do not serve the country any good.
The Paris Agreement is at the heart of international commitments to combat rising global temperatures. It commits countries to “work hard” to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and keep it to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times to try to curb some of the more serious impacts of climate warming that will affect millions of people around the world.
The move to withdraw from the Paris Agreement drew sharp criticism from climate groups, human rights advocates and Trump critics, given that the United States is one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases.
Marta Schaff, climate program director at Amnesty International, said: “The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement sets a disturbing precedent, aims to incite a race to the bottom and, along with withdrawals from other major global climate agreements, aims to dismantle the global system of cooperation on climate action.”
“The United States is one of several powerful anti-climate actors, but as an influential superpower, this decision, combined with coercion and bullying by other countries and powerful actors doubling down on fossil fuels, causes particular harm and threatens to reverse more than a decade of global climate progress made under the deal.”
“Climate advocates and activists in the United States now find themselves on the front lines of a fight that affects present and future generations around the world… Abandoning ground now risks losing years. Neither the planet nor the people living on the frontlines of spreading unnatural disasters have that much time,” she added.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, one of Trump’s fiercest critics, said: “The climate disaster is costing Americans trillions of dollars, and Trump’s answer is to wave the white flag. California will not back down. We will continue to work with partners around the world to reduce pollution, create jobs and lead the clean energy economy that the Trump administration is too weak to fight for.”
Trump’s decision does not change the fact that renewable energy will account for more than 90% of new power generation capacity in 2025, but it is China that leads the way. The U.S. withdrawal will certainly complicate efforts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even 2 degrees Celsius.
Earlier this month, the United States also announced that it would withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is the basis for the Paris Agreement. Taken together, these moves remove the U.S. from key institutions fighting the climate crisis and help some of the countries most at risk from changing temperatures and increased extreme weather. Most recently, the United States also withdrew from the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), a decision the global body said would make “the United States and the world less safe.”
This article is part of The Independent Rethinking global aid project