US formally exits Paris climate deal as election hangs in balance
- Exit comes exactly one year after Trump’s administration notified the UN of US quitting
- Joe Biden has vowed to immediately rejoin the Paris agreement if he wins the US election
The United States left the Paris accord on Wednesday, becoming the first country to ever withdraw from an international climate change pact as the fate of its presidential election hangs in the balance.
Either way, it all depends on the outcome of a knife-edge vote where both candidates have predicted victory.
Biden has proposed a US$1.7 trillion-plan to take the US to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, while President Donald Trump has aggressively championed the fossil fuel industry, questioned the science of climate change and weakened other environmental protections.
If Trump wins, it will be left to states, cities and businesses to take the lead.
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Bundled up for summer, European glaciers covered with blankets to slow melting from climate change
However, a report last month by the group America’s Pledge found that even without help from Washington, action from these groups would still make it possible for the US to cut emissions by 37 per cent by 2030.
“The easy part, relatively speaking, is to send a notification to the UN that the United States intends to rejoin the Paris Agreement,” Andrew Light, a climate adviser to former president Barack Obama, said.