Trump plans new US exit from Paris agreement

Former President of the United States, Donald Trump, has plans to withdraw the country again from the Paris Agreement, an important global climate pact established in 2015. This information was released by Politico, which also analyzed the potential repercussions of this decision for both international policy and global efforts to combat climate change.

The first US withdrawal from the agreement occurred in 2017, when Trump justified the decision by claiming to defend the interests of “the people of Pittsburgh, not Paris”.

This move was met with alarm by the international community, raising concerns that other countries could follow the American example and abandon the agreement, which imposes no penalties on signatories that fail to meet their emissions reduction targets.

Despite the U.S. rejoining the Paris Agreement in 2021 under the Joe Biden administration, which has committed to cutting the country’s carbon emissions in half by 2030 from 2005 levels, the U.S. still falls short of what is needed to meet these goals.

According to Todd Stern, former US climate envoy and one of the key figures in formulating the agreement, the current scenario is different, and he says he is surprised by the possibility of other countries withdrawing from the pact at this stage.

A possible new US exit, as discussed by Trump, could weaken global leadership on the climate issue. Alden Meyer, a climate policy expert at E3G, highlighted that this could dampen the ambition of nations such as China, India and some European countries, which face domestic pressure to continue their dependence on fossil fuels.

This withdrawal would be particularly significant now as signatory nations to the Paris Agreement are scheduled to present new climate action plans in February.

The lack of a firm US commitment could discourage other countries from taking on more ambitious goals. Furthermore, the upcoming COP29 will test the resilience of the agreement and the willingness of nations to maintain their financial commitments, which could reach US$1 trillion annually.

Trump’s potential reelection and subsequent U.S. withdrawal from the climate agreement could have lasting repercussions, reducing the effectiveness of global efforts to combat global warming, especially at a time when natural disasters related to climate change have become more frequent and devastating.