It was predicted and it happened. On Monday, January 20, the very day that Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States of America, he signed an executive order removing the US from the Paris Agreement. This was not the first time. It was a repeat of an action he took during his time as the 45th president of the US from 2017 to 2021. Many global climate change enthusiasts were up in arms over Trump’s reelection last year, saying it would prompt a slide backwards in climate action. However, some environmentalists Nigerian Tribune spoke to believe that the US’s absence from the global climate pact is not something to lose sleep over.
The Paris Agreement
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) explains that the Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on December 12, 2015. It entered into force on November 4, 2016.
Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”
However, in recent years, world leaders have stressed the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century.
That’s because the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that crossing the 1.5°C threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall.
To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43 percent by 2030.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations together to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
The Paris Agreement does not require countries to cut their emissions but works through international peer pressure and countries’ domestic laws to encourage nations to set ambitious emissions reduction targets.
As US withdraws…
The US is said to be the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, said to be responsible for global warming, and a top producer of oil and natural gas.
Another US departure from the Paris Agreement would leave a major gap in international efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions and potentially call the country’s foreign policy credibility into question.
However, it takes a year for a country to withdraw from the agreement.
Under former President Biden, the US had committed to the voluntary goal of cutting emissions economy-wide by 61 percent to 66 percent below 2005 levels by 2035.
Reports have it that Leaving Paris again could cement foreign diplomats’ and observers’ view of the U.S. as an unreliable partner, given the U-turn from Biden’s climate policies.
Trump has promised to increase fossil fuel production and repeal climate programmes by the previous Biden administration, and replace them with policies of “energy dominance.”
In addition to the Paris Agreement executive order, Trump signed multiple energy orders that would—if implemented—move the US away from focusing on lowering greenhouse gas emissions and towards boosting oil and gas production.
“The United States will not sabotage our own industries, while China pollutes with impunity,” said Trump while signing the executive order.
Can the world move on without the US?
“Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement doesn’t make much difference from my perspective,” said Nnimmo Bassey, the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF).
“It comes into effect after one year. The USA has been in that space just to block progress. The forced market environmentalism on the world never made reasonable pledges! Just think of the $18 million they pledged for the Loss & Damage fund when the UAE pledged $100 million, for example.”
The environmentalist added, “Sadly, the pulling out of the Paris Agreement doesn’t mean they are leaving the UNFCCC. They will still be there to do the dirty job.
“And the Paris Agreement with its NDCs and false solutions has already set the world for catastrophic temperature increases.
“The only positive of the Paris Agreement is that it’s the only global agreement on climate change. No more, sadly. Now the USA will join Libya, Yemen and Eritrea as the bunch staying out of the Paris Agreement.”
Sharing his opinion, Philip Jakpor of Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) said: “There has been so much needless apprehension about the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement with particular attention on its potential impact on climate funding and the global just energy transition trajectory. I differ on this subject.”
He added, “Already the rest of the world is mobilising to fill the gap. Even New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has pledged to fill the void that US funding would leave. This is not the first time the US has pulled out of the agreement. It also happened during the first tenure of Trump, and the world did not collapse. In this case, what I see is that the rest of the world will bond together to fill the void and move on.
“That said, we must also note that aside from investments in renewables, which jumped in the US under President Biden, the US did not play any particularly laudable role in leading the world away from the path of climate catastrophe.
“At the Climate Talks itself, the US has largely played a distractive and disruptive role, which has made the meeting a mere talk shop that produced nothing meaningful to get the much-needed funds to mitigate the impacts of climate change in vulnerable countries of the Global South and communities on the frontlines.”
However, Professor Daniel Musa Gwary, Director for Arid Zone Studies, the University of Maiduguri, had this to say: “Trump’s executive order to pull out the US from the Paris climate change pact is an unfortunate development. This action will set back the much-needed global climate action. Poor and climate-most vulnerable countries will continue to be at the receiving end of climate change impacts. It will be uncertain how the remaining developed and richer countries (Annex 1 countries) will raise the promised adaptation funds for the poor Annex 2 countries.
“The world will be watching to see which country or bloc will now take over the global lead for climate change flight to limit global warming to below 1.5 °C.”
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Speaking to the issue, Dr David Michael Terungwa of the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation said: “This move was entirely expected. Trump took similar action during his first term, reiterating this intention during his campaign. We anticipated it. When the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Agreement under his first administration, Europe stepped up to fill the gap to some extent, and I believe the same will happen this time.
“Yes, it’s significant that the world’s largest economy and a major emitter of greenhouse gases is exiting the Agreement. However, this is as much about politics and business as it is about climate.
“That said, many of the biggest funders of global climate initiatives are Americans, demonstrating that climate action in the US is not solely tied to Trump’s policies. There are influential individuals, even within the Democratic Party, who understand the urgency of addressing climate change. Our focus should be on collaborating with these allies and pushing for progress through Congress.”
Terungwa stressed: “Most importantly, this withdrawal will not halt the fight against climate change. The commitment to action remains strong globally, and we must keep the momentum going.”
