Politico | US starts Paris climate pact exit – now what?
- Once the United States exits the 2015 Paris Agreement, it will become the only country outside the accord
- The exit process will be completed a day after the 2020 US presidential election
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Zack Colman on politico.com on November 4, 2019.
The Trump administration’s move Monday to start the clock on pulling out of the Paris climate agreement places the United States at odds with the entire rest of the world – once again – when it comes to committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The move has little practical effect for energy policy in the United States, where President Donald Trump is already dismantling Obama-era regulations on major sources of heat-trapping emissions such as power plants and automobiles.
But it hands a ready talking point to the Democrats running to replace him, all of whom have pledged to rejoin the agreement if Trump pulls out.
And Trump's action is symbolically striking in the realm of international climate diplomacy, coming just weeks before nations are due to gather for yet another climate conference in Madrid.
“I think there is a big difference of him doing this now before the [conference],” said Andrew Light, a State Department negotiator under former president Barack Obama who is now at World Resources Institute.
“Many countries out there are going to be taking a harder stand on the US in the [conference] depending on what is said in the letter.”
