Trump orders US withdrawal from Paris climate accord

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the pact between nearly all nations to combat climate change.

By withdrawing, the US will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only four countries not party to the accord, under which nations work together to keep global warming below levels that could lead to environmental catastrophe.

The move, one of several energy-related announcements in hours after his inauguration, is yet another focal point in the United States’ participation in global climate negotiations. During his first term, Mr. Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, but then President Biden quickly bounced back in 2020 after winning the White House.

Scientists, activists and Democratic officials attacked the measure as one that would worsen the climate crisis and backfire on American workers. Together with Mr. Trump’s other energy measures on Monday, withdrawing from the pact, signal his administration’s determination to double down on fossil fuel extraction and production and to move away from clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles and power-generating wind turbines.

“If they want to be tough on China, don’t punish American automakers and hard-working Americans by handing our clean car keys to the Chinese,” said Gina McCarthy, former White House climate adviser and former head of the Environmental Protection Administration. . “The United States must continue to show leadership on the international stage if we are to have any influence over how trillions of dollars in financial investments, policies and decisions are made.”

On Monday, Mr. Trump also sent a letter to the United Nations, which administers the pact, notifying the world body of the withdrawal. The withdrawal will become official one year after the submission of the letter.

US efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions had already stalled by 2024, and Mr. Trump’s entry into office makes it increasingly unlikely that the US will follow through on its ambitious promises to cut them further. Emissions fell only a fraction last year, 0.2 percent, compared to the year before. according to estimates published this month by the Rhodium Group, a research firm.

Despite continued rapid growth in solar and wind power, which was spurred by the previous administration’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, emissions levels remained relatively flat last year as demand for electricity increased nationwide, leading to an increase in natural gas burned by power plants.

The fact that emissions did not fall much means that the US is even further away from reaching Mr. Biden’s goal, announced last month under the auspices of the Paris Agreement, is to cut greenhouse gases 61 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Scientists say all major economies would need to cut their emissions deeply this decade to keep global warming at a relatively low level.

In a scenario where Mr. Trump rolled most of Mr. Barring Biden’s climate policies, U.S. emissions may fall only 24 to 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, the Rhodium Group found.

“President Trump is choosing to begin his term in office by addressing the fossil fuel industry and its allies,” the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a statement. “His disgraceful and destructive decision is an ominous harbinger of what the people of the United States should expect from him and his anti-science cabinet.”

Since 2005, US emissions have fallen by about 20 percent, a significant drop at a time when the economy has also grown. But to meet its climate goals, U.S. emissions would have to fall nearly 10 times as fast each year as they have fallen over the past decade.

The US is also a major exporter of emissions. Because of policies promoted by both Republicans and Democrats, the United States now produces more crude oil and natural gas than any nation in history. Mr. Trump has promised to further increase production and exports.

While the United States may not be a party to the Paris Agreement, it will still be part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which hosts annual climate negotiations known as COPs. This year’s COP will be held in Brazil in November, and nations will announce new pledges on emissions reductions.

One recent study by Climate Action Trackera research group, found that if every country followed through on the pledges they have formally made so far, global average temperatures would be on track to rise about 2.6 degrees Celsius, or 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, well above the 1.5 degrees Celsius originally targeted by the Paris Agreement.

“Trump’s irresponsibility is no surprise,” said Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican diplomat and an architect of the Paris Agreement in 2015. “In time, Trump will not be around, but history will point to him and his friends with fossil fuels without any mercy .”