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Climate change
Opinion
SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | US involvement in fight against climate change is crucial

  • A collective effort is needed and Washington should act responsibly and look beyond politics and short-term gain

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Spain was hit by wildfires during the Europe-wide heatwave in June. Photo: AFP
SCMP Editorial
Extreme weather like the record heatwave in Europe, exceptionally heavy rain in Kagoshima prefecture in Japan and a freak hailstorm that dropped up to two metres of ice pellets on Guadalajara in Mexico cannot easily be put down to climate change. But the frequency and intensity of such events are increasing and most scientists agree that global warming amplifies risk factors. Natural disasters threaten lives and have an economic cost through damage and those concerns were apparent in the joint communique signed at the recent summit of the Group of 20 nations in Osaka. But as has been the case since American president Donald Trump took office in 2016, the United States refused to participate, once again undermining global efforts to decisively tackle what many contend is a crisis in the making.

President Xi Jinping joined 18 G20 leaders in agreeing to a deal similar to that at the previous summit in Argentina, pledging to reaffirm their commitment to the Paris climate change accord.

To help prevent temperatures from rising, their joint statement said they would “look into a wide range of clean technologies and approaches”. But as in Buenos Aires, a clause exempting the US was included rejecting the pact “because it disadvantages American workers and taxpayers”. Politics and short-term economic gain are behind so self-interested a decision, but as with the trade war with China and ignoring multilateralism, the ramifications are global.

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Data from the European Union’s satellite agency showed global average temperatures last month were the highest on record. In Europe, new all-time highs were set in Austria, France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, with a new French mark of 45.9 degrees Celsius being set near the city of Nimes. Recent analysis showed that climate change had made heatwaves at least five times more likely to occur and that models had failed to predict such severity.

More searing weather is forecast for later this summer. But Guadalajara experienced the opposite on June 30, an abnormal storm in places almost burying cars in hailstones. In Kagoshima, record rain has forced the evacuation of thousands of people from homes to escape floods and mudslides. Broadly, all can be put down to rising temperatures caused by the greenhouse gases that result from excessive burning of fossil fuels, cutting down of rainforests and farming livestock, that lead to atmospheric warming and higher precipitation.
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The Paris pact involves changing practices and adapting, measures the Trump administration is unwilling to take. American carbon emission rates are the highest after China’s and rising faster than world levels. Collective effort is needed and US involvement is crucial; Washington has to act responsibly.

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