Trump has decided: the US will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, national media report

Trump has decided: the US will withdraw from the Paris Agreement, national media report

Ambiente · ·

Secondo la stampa americana, Donald Trump avrebbe già informato i suoi collaboratori della decisione di abbandonare l’Accordo di Parigi.

Update 1 June 9:00 – News reports apparently pushed Donald Trump to speed things up. Yesterday, President Trump said that he will announce his decision on the Paris Agreement “over the next few days”, but then announced he will be holding a press conference today at 3:00 P.M. local time.

After months of contradictory declarations, US President Donald Trump has reportedly made his decision: the United States will abandon the Paris Agreement. Trump communicated the decision known to his closest staff members, according to US media.

Broadcaster CBS News reports that the details haven’t yet been defined, but the path has been set. Also, from a legal and technical point of view, the United States’ withdrawal from the climate deal would be handled by a group of people close to the President, including the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, who is a supporter of fossil fuels and a climate change sceptic.

barack obama cop 21
Former president of the United States Barack Obama during a speech at COP21, the United Nations conference on climate change that took place in December 2015 at the end of which the Paris Agreement entered into force © Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

A harsh blow for the Paris Agreement

In operational terms, the United States won’t be able to abandon the Paris Agreement immediately: in fact, the accord doesn’t allow governments to submit a request to exit it prior to three years since it has entered into force. But it is equally clear that the US administration may decide to not carry out the commitments made in terms of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The accord, in fact, is based on a policy of consensus-building and doesn’t foresee any sanctions for countries who don’t respect its terms.

It’s a harsh blow for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) not only from a practical point of view – together with China the United States is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world – but also and especially politically.