While disappointing, it is no surprise that barely a couple of hours into his second term, President Trump moved to withdraw the US from the world’s biggest collective effort to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis. He has already called climate change “one of the greatest scams of all time,” while ramping up drilling for oil and gas, including in the Arctic during his time in the White House. Quitting what he called the “unfair one-sided Paris climate accord rip off”, he also signed a letter to the United Nations giving it notice that the US - the world’s second biggest emitter of planet-heating pollution.
Although it will take a year before the US can officially leave the pact joining Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries outside the global agreement - the move is one of a number of changes that will reverse US climate regulations and boost oil and gas production. President Trump made a similar move during his first term in office, but Biden was quick to reverse that decision when he took office in 2021.
Although not legally binding, the Paris Climate Agreement has seen countries agree to limit global warming to 1.5C in an effort to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to sustainable, renewable energy sources.
