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US formally exits Paris pact aiming to curb climate change

The move was long threatened by President Donald Trump, who first announced his intention to withdraw from the accords in June 2017.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

The United States on Wednesday formally left the Paris Agreement, a global pact forged five years ago to to fight climate change.

The move was long threatened by President Donald Trump, who first announced his intention to withdraw from the accords in June 2017.

In announcing his decision, which kept a campaign promise, Trump said, “The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers — who I love — and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production.”

The administration filed the paperwork a year ago this month to officially withdraw. The requirement for the 12-month notice period has now been fulfilled and the U.S. is officially no longer part of the agreement.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Nov. 2019 when the paperwork for withdrawal was submitted that “President Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the agreement.”

In October, 2019, Trump said the Paris accord would “punish the American people while enriching foreign polluters.”

Some 189 countries remain committed to the 2015 Paris 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.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said he favors signing the U.S. back up to the Paris accord.