US Withdrawal from Climate Pact



A Changing Climate  

    On the 4th of November, 2019, the Trump administration informed the UN of its intentions to formally withdraw the United States from the Paris accord formed in 2015 (see here). 

   The Paris agreement is a pact made between 188 countries with the purpose of enhancing the global response to climate change and increasing the actions being taken to ensure a sustainable, low-carbon future (here). This means that each county must take steps in order to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. 

   In 2014, the United States was one of the top emitters of carbon dioxide, producing 15% of the global emissions (more information here). Moreover, at the present moment, the increasing average global temperature is leading to more intense weather events (here), which could lead to significant economic and social impacts in the future, and is endangering more than one million different plant and animal species (here). Given that the United States contributes greatly to climate change, the nation's withdrawal from the pact has the ability to prevent the remaining countries from meeting their goals of reducing the global emissions and the average global increase in temperature.

   This announcement follows on the heels of the global climate strike movement, which took place from the 20-27th of September, 2019 (here) and has been preceded by an analytical article published on the 5th of November, 2019. The article declares a global climate emergency and has been signed by more than 11,000 scientists from around the world (see the article).

Although the Paris accord was not a binding agreement, is it just that the United States are withdrawing from the pact? How might the nation's aggression from the agreement affect climate change and the global environments? In addition to this, what are the implications of the withdrawal on the United States' political relations with foreign countries involved in the pact? May this weaken the United States' relationship with their allies, who are still fully committed to the pact?

Comments

  1. Mr. LawlerNovember 7, 2019 at 7:37 AM

    From Max (period 3):
    This is a great post. I think your question regarding our allies is a really good question to bring up. I believe that it could definitely have a poor impact on our allies because it shows that we aren’t willing to make the effort the rest of the world is making.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mr. LawlerNovember 7, 2019 at 11:13 AM

    From Marin:
    I really find this topic interesting because our withdrawal from the agreement not only has great repercussions for the climate, but also for our foreign relationships and how we are seen as a country. Countries who may have previously looked up to us as a strong nation may lose respect after this decision.

    ReplyDelete

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