Trump 2.0: Fate of climate policy

The withdrawal of the United States (US) from the Paris Agreement has serious implications for an effective global response to climate change.

- RAJEEV KHER AND ANSHUMAN GUPTA

It has given a fresh lease of life to fossil fuels, which will benefit its American producers. It can also adversely impact the growth of the renewable-energy sector, in which China is the dominant player, and therefore suits the flow of American politics. However, what it ignores is that climate change is not a threat anymore but a reality which has universally impacted contemporary human experience and, therefore, the need for its mitigation is unlikely to be driven out of human thought. It is unlikely that global response to climate change will move away from the present paradigm manifested in the Paris Agreement.

The developing world may suffer a double whammy. Advanced nations, such as the European Union and the United Kingdom, would be squeezing them by applying stringent sustainability measures having trans-border implications. At the same time, the withdrawal of the US will not only unfetter emissions in that country but will remove the developing world's access to financial and technological resources, which could have been available to them had the US continued to be a member. The US withdrawal would also dampen the spirit of other countries in achieving their climate goals.