U. S. formally exits Paris climate pact
BERLIN — The United States on Wednesday formally left the Paris Agreement, a global pact it helped forge five years ago to avert the threat of catastrophic climate change.
The move, long threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump and triggered by his administration a year ago, further isolates Washington in the world but has no immediate impact on international efforts to curb global warming.
Still, the U.N. agency that oversees the treaty, France as the host of the 2015 Paris talks and three countries currently chairing the body that organizes them — Chile, Britain and Italy — issued a joint statement expressing regret at the U.S. withdrawal.
“There is no greater responsibility than protecting our planet and people from the threat of climate change,” the statement said. “The science is clear that we must urgently scale up action and work together to reduce the impacts of global warming and to ensure a greener, more resilient future for us all. The Paris Agreement provides the right framework to achieve this.”
“We remain committed to working with all U. S. stakeholders and partners around the world to accelerate climate action, and with all signatories to ensure the full implementation of the Paris Agreement,” they added.
The next planned round of U.N. climate talks takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021. At present, 189 countries have ratified the accord, which aims to keep the increase in average temperatures worldwide “well below” 2 degrees Celsius [ 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit], ideally no more than 1.5C [ 2.7 F], compared to pre- industrial levels. A further six countries have signed, but not ratified the pact.
Scientists say any rise beyond 2 degrees Celsius could have a devastating effect on large parts of the world, raising sea levels, stoking tropical storms and worsening droughts and floods.
The world already has warmed 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre- industrial time, so the efforts are really about preventing another 0.3 to 0.7 degrees Celsius warming from now.
“Having the U. S. pull out of Paris is likely to reduce efforts to mitigate, and therefore increase the number of people who are put into a lifeordeath situation because of the impacts of climate change: this is clear from the science,” said Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, a co- author of U.N. science reports on global warming.
The Paris accord requires countries to set their own voluntary targets for reducing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, and to steadily increase those goals every few years. The only binding requirement is that nations have to accurately report on their efforts.
“The beauty of this system is that nobody can claim they were bullied into some sort of plan,” said Nigel Purvis, a former U.S. climate negotiator in the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. “They’re not negotiated. They’re accepted.”