U.S. Withdraws from Paris Agreement

President Donald Trump recently announced that the United States began the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.[1] The administration confirmed the withdrawal will be final on November 4, 2020.[2]

The Paris Agreement considered the voluntary national commitments of participating nations in the global reduction of greenhouse gases, to set achievable national goals to combat global climate change and establish a metric for measuring progress in meeting the global goals.[3] Almost 200 countries signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 and pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[4] The United States was a powerful party in the original agreement.[5] They created language to hold countries accountable for their promises.[6] However, the United States is now the only country to pull out of the global agreement.[7]

According to Andrew Light, a former climate official in the U.S. State Department, “[t]he United States is not cooperating with the rest of the world on dealing with climate change.”[8] Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists says “[t]he reality is, to really deliver on our climate goals, we do need strong federal action.”[9]

Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State, stated in his press statement despite the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, “[The United States] will continue to work with our global partners to enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change and prepare for and respond to natural disasters . . . the United States will continue to research, innovate, and grow our economy while reducing emissions and extending a helping hand to our friends and partners around the globe.”[10]

[1] David Roberts, The Paris climate agreement is at risk of falling apart in the 2020s, Vox (November 5, 2019), https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/11/5/20947289/paris-climate-agreement-2020s-breakdown-trump (last visited November 7, 2019).

[2] Id.

[3] David Roberts, The Conceptual breakthrough behind the Paris climate treaty, Vox (December 15, 2015), https://www.vox.com/2015/12/15/10172238/paris-climate-treaty-conceptual-breakthrough (last visited November 8, 2019).

[4] Rebecca Hersher, U.S. Formally Begins to Leave the Paris Climate Agreement, NPR (November 4, 2019), https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/773474657/u-s-formally-begins-to-leave-the-paris-climate-agreement (last visited November 8, 2019).

[5] See Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Michael R. Pompeo, On the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, U.S. Department of State (November 4, 2019), https://www.state.gov/on-the-u-s-withdrawal-from-the-paris-agreement/ (last visited November 7, 2019).