Trump orders US withdrawal from Paris accord, Biden revokes climate action: NPR

President Donald Trump is pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement – again.

Under the international climate agreement, which was first negotiated in 2015, countries around the world agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming and prevent the worst consequences of climate change.

Trump has argued that the deal places unfair burdens on the US economy, and he withdrew the US during his first term in office. The United States officially rejoined under President Joe Biden in 2021.

On Monday, Trump started the process over, signing an order on stage in front of supporters at Capital One Arena, just hours after taking office.

“I am withdrawing immediately from the unfair, one-sided Paris climate agreement,” he said during earlier remarks to loud cheers from the audience. “The US will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”

China is currently the largest global emitter of greenhouse gases, although it is also a world leader in the deployment of renewable energy. US emissions have been declining since the mid-2000s, but it remains the largest historical contributor to total carbon dioxide emissions.

The move to leave the Paris Agreement was not a surprise, given that Trump’s campaign signaled departure months ago.

But that comes later the hottest year everas a major wildfires are still burning in Los Angelesand only months after devastating hurricanes affected communities from Florida to North Carolina. Climate change increases the risk of hurricanes, leads to more extreme rainfall and makes more intense and destructive wildfires more likely.

Environmental organizations criticized the decision harshly. Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental watchdog group, said the human and economic consequences of climate change will only grow if the United States does not do its part to limit warming.

“Even now … we’re seeing these droughts, storms, heat waves, floods, sea level rise accelerating,” Cleetus said. “It’s just amazing already the kind of impacts that are unfolding.”

Laurence Tubiana, executive director of the European Climate Foundation and architect of the Paris Agreement, said in a statement that the US pulling out of the agreement is unfortunate. But, she said, international climate action “has proven resilient and is stronger than any single country’s politics and policies.”

“This moment should serve as a wake-up call to reform the system and ensure that those most affected – communities and individuals on the front lines – are at the center of our collective governance,” Tubiana said.

An ambitious global tool – which has so far fallen short

Under the Paris Agreement, nearly every country in the world agreed to a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

But that one the world is not on track at the moment to achieve these goals. Last year was hottest in human historyas global average temperatures hovered around the 1.5 degree Celsius level of warming.

As part of the terms of the Paris Agreement, countries submit emission reduction targets and provide periodic updates on their progress. Before leaving office, Biden announced a new U.S. goal: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% from peak levels by 2035, a goal that would likely require a rapid transition away from fossil fuels. That goal is now unclear.

In the order signed Monday, Trump directed his UN ambassador to submit a formal notice of the US exit. (Trump’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, New York Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik, has yet to be confirmed by the Senate.) While the order says the U.S. withdrawal will take effect “immediately” once notice is given, the the Paris Agreement itself, that the process takes a whole year.

Although Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement in his first term in office, leaving was not easy. The administration was bound by restrictions on leaving the agreement for the first few years. It ultimately took nearly four years for the United States to actually exit the deal, said David Waskow, who heads international climate policy and politics at the World Resources Institute.

“It’s very different this time,” Waskow said.

Leaving the deal could prove damaging, Waskow said, by potentially excluding the United States from some clean energy and green technology markets and reducing leverage with other countries. That could hamper some of Trump’s broader economic goals for the United States

Trump has been hostile to many renewable energy initiatives and other climate measures, including efforts to promote electric cars. His nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, acknowledged the reality of anthropogenic climate change in his confirmation hearing, but has indicated that the Trump administration would seek to roll back many environmental regulations.

Repeal of Biden-era climate action

Trump also issued a flurry of other orders Monday aimed at boosting fossil fuel use and undoing Biden-era initiatives to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He declared a national energy crisis and recalled many of the Bidensannouncements about climate change. New orders direct agencies to roll back restrictions on offshore drilling and rethink protections of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Trump also issued one moratorium on new wind power projects on federal lands, halting new leases and permits for both onshore and offshore wind farms. He revoked an executive order forcing the authorities to do so assess the risks of climate change for the financial system. And he directed agencies to review any regulation that could “burden the development of domestic energy resources.”

That could include major climate policies for the Biden administration, including EPA rules limiting emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants and new fees on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

Julia Simon contributed reporting to this story.