Donald Trump says he will withdraw US from Paris climate accord

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US President Donald Trump said he will withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement, dealing a blow to global efforts to slow global warming after the hottest year on record.

The decision was announced Monday amid a wave of pro-fossil fuel policies after Trump was sworn in with a promise to “drill, drill, drill” in pursuit of what he called “American energy dominance.”

“The President will unleash America’s energy by ending Biden’s policies on climate extremism,” the White House said.

The US exit from the 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries, means the world’s largest historical polluter will once again back away from its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Rachel Cletus, policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the US withdrawal was a “farce” and a “clear defiance of scientific facts.”

The incoming administration also said it would declare an “energy emergency” as it promoted measures to reduce regulations on oil and gas companies and reduce reliance on clean energy.

“We will lower prices, fill our strategic reserves back to the top, and export American energy around the world,” Trump said. We will be a rich country again, and it is the liquid gold under our feet that will help do that.

Trump indicated that he would eliminate the role of national climate advisor, which Biden introduced, and replace him with an “energy czar” charged with reducing red tape for oil and gas producers. This role will be filled by former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Last year was the first calendar year in which average temperatures exceeded the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rise since pre-industrial times to less than 2 degrees Celsius, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The world is on track for temperatures to rise by up to 2.9 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to a UN report.

The United States is the only country to withdraw from the Paris Agreement – under the first Trump administration in 2017, in a process that took more than two years. But it rejoined under Biden in February 2021. Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, also threatened to withdraw, but did not follow through.

“The door remains open… and we welcome constructive engagement from all countries,” Simon Steele, head of the UN climate change branch overseeing the Paris Agreement, said on Monday.

The White House said Monday it would also take steps to “end the leasing of massive wind farms” that it said “degrade our landscape and fail to serve American energy consumers.”

Lawrence Tubiana, one of the main architects of the Paris Agreement, said the US decision to withdraw was “unfortunate” but that the agreement was “stronger than the politics and policies of any single country.”

Some experts said Trump’s moves to reverse Biden’s “green” policies would give an advantage to China, the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars, solar panels and batteries.

“China will be happy to wave in the rearview mirror of one of its world-leading electric vehicles while American manufacturers stumble,” said Tim Sahay, co-director of the Zero-Based Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University.

The Biden administration raised the ceiling on climate goals for the United States in its last month in office, and set a goal to reduce greenhouse gases economy-wide by 61 percent to 66 percent by 2035 compared to 2005 levels.

At the recent UN climate summit in Baku, John Podesta, Biden’s senior climate adviser, acknowledged that US efforts to tackle global warming “may be put on the back burner” under the Trump White House, but sought to reassure US allies that this It won’t stop the climate transition. Green energy and technology by companies, states, cities and local authorities.

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