Trump Withdraws From Paris Climate Agreement, Again

President Donald Trump signed an executive order soon after taking office on Monday directing the US' withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, weakening what has, over the past four years especially, become a global movement to combat the climate crisis.

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI:

This is the second time Trump is ordering the US to abandon the Paris agreement—he did so in a 2017 order as well—and the process is expected to take a year. The last time, it took longer, and the US' withdrawal was to kick in a day after Joe Biden took office, which means it never happened.

The Paris agreement is aimed at keeping long-term global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels—the average between 1850 and 1900—and, if that is not possible, limiting it to below 2 degrees Celsius. The US is the second largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world (after China) currently, but also, historically, the largest polluter. But Trump's order termed the Paris agreement one of several such global compacts that channel US "taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people."

The order also sought to immediately cease or revoke any purported financial commitment made by the US under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).