Trump's Paris Agreement Withdrawal Not Such A Bad Thing
Date
1/23/2025 6:12:55 AM
(MENAFN- Asia Times)
On his first day back in office as United States president, Donald trump gave formal notice of his nation's exit from the Paris Agreement – a vital global treaty seeking to rein in climate change.
Before signing the order, Trump declared his reasons to an arena of cheering supporters , describing the global agreement as an“unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off.”
Of course, this is not the first time Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris deal – he did it in 2017 , during his first term in office.
On one hand, Trump's move is a huge blow to efforts to global climate action. The US is the world's second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gas pollution, after China. The country is crucial to the global effort to curb climate change.
But given Trump's climate denialism, it's actually better that the US absent itself from international climate talks while he is in power. That way, the rest of the world can get on with the job without Trump's corrosive influence.
This is not the first time Trump has withdrawn the US from the Paris deal. Photo: Ben Curtis / AP via The Conversation
A quick refresher on the Paris Agreement
Signed by 196 nations in 2015, the Paris Agreement is the first comprehensive global treaty to combat climate change.
Its overall goal is to hold the increase of global temperatures to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.
Scientists say meeting the more ambitious 1.5°C target is crucial because crossing that threshold risks unleashing catastrophic climate change impacts, such as more frequent and severe droughts and heatwaves.
Under the agreement, each nation must make national plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help reach the global temperature goals. These plans are known as“nationally determined contributions”.
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