U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which was adopted to combat climate change. On Monday, January 20, shortly after being sworn in as president, Trump signed this order.
On Tuesday, January 21, British news outlet BBC reported the development.
Through this executive order, Trump has taken the world’s largest carbon-emitting country out of the agreement for the second time in the past decade. Earlier, during his first term as president, Trump had also withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.
Later, in 2021, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. Under Biden’s administration, the U.S. officially returned to the international climate accord just one month after he took office.
Notably, the Paris Climate Agreement, signed in 2015, was a historic initiative to unite countries worldwide to tackle climate change. At the time, nearly 200 countries agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists have consistently emphasized that the Paris Agreement must be effectively implemented to prevent imminent dangerous climate change on Earth. Yet, at this critical juncture, Donald Trump has signed an order to withdraw from the agreement.
The key elements of this global accord include keeping the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius. By 2050 to 2100, artificial greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced to the level that natural absorbers like trees, soil, and oceans can naturally absorb.
Additionally, the agreement mandates reviewing each country’s role in reducing harmful gas emissions every five years. It also includes provisions for wealthier countries to support poorer nations through “climate funds” to adapt to climate change and ensure the use of renewable energy.