'We cannot let Trump dictate the future of planet - no country is spared from huge threat' 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
