The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

United States officially exits Paris climate agreement

2020-11-04T15:21:04.487Z


The outcome of the presidential election will define the future of the Paris Agreement in the United States for the next four years.


The United States officially left the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday, November 4, and a possible return of Washington to its midst is suspended from the still unknown result of the American presidential election.

One of the objectives of the agreement, signed in December 2015 by 195 countries, is to contain the rise in temperatures to 1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era.

Live: LIVE - US Presidential election: the fate of the ballot now suspended in eight states

Donald Trump has since arrived at the White House his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement, which he considers to be a “

job killer

”.

The Paris agreement does not include significant constraints on the biggest polluters.

[...] I cannot endorse an agreement which punishes the United States,

”said the American president at the time in June 2017. On November 4, 2019, faithful to his promise, Donald Trump initiated the withdrawal procedure.

Emmanuel Macron denounced for his part a "

fault for the future of our planet

".

"

There is no plan B because there is no planet B

", he said in June 2017.

Defenders of the environment believe that some countries, such as Australia, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, took advantage of the announcement of the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement to revise their own ambitions downwards.

Angola, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, South Sudan, Turkey and Yemen have signed the agreement without formally adopting it.

Uncertain future for the Paris agreement in the United States

Although the Paris climate agreement is not binding - it is not a treaty - the result of the presidential election could change the future of the text and the environmental orientation of the United States. .

Joe Biden has already pledged the country will rejoin the deal if they win.

The Democratic candidate announced that he would apply to the UN on the first day of his term if elected, which is January 20, 2021. The process would then take 30 days for the United States to re-enter. officially the agreement.

Read also: Climate: the very complex implementation of the Paris agreement

More generally, Joe Biden has led a campaign in favor of emissions reduction and energy transition.

He presented a plan of 1.7 trillion dollars for the United States to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Although he has pledged not to completely ban fracking, Joe Biden also says he sees natural gas as a "

bridge

" to renewable energy.

According to Dutch researcher Niklas Höhne, member of the Climate Action Tracker group, "

Biden's climate plan alone could reduce temperature rises by around 0.1 ° C

".

Conversely, a re-election of Donald Trump and the country would go it alone for at least four more years.

Since arriving at the White House, the Republican president has defended the fossil fuel industry, questioned scientists about climate change and unraveled several environmental safeguards.

If Donald Trump were to win a second term, the fight for the climate will pass through states, municipalities and businesses, whose initiatives, even without federal government support, could enable the United States to reduce its carbon emissions. by 37% by 2030, according to a recent report by America's Pledge.

Despite the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, several traditionally progressive states and cities have continued to legislate to combat global warming.

For example, California has set a target of a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 from 1990 levels and a fully carbon-free electricity supply by now. 2045.

Read also: The United States confirms its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement

However, if Donald Trump is re-elected, the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris agreement does not mean that the country will no longer participate in international climate negotiations.

The United States will indeed participate in COP26 in Glasgow (United Kingdom) in 2021, which could announce a more ambitious emission reduction target.

Andrew Light, environmental advisor to former Democratic President Barack Obama, however, told AFP that the world's leading power will be left "

out of the way of trade

".

As of Wednesday afternoon, the two candidates were both in a position to win, while the final results are still not known.

Source: lefigaro

All tech articles on 2020-11-04

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.