By Elishya Perera
WASHINGTON DC, USA (CWBN)_The United States became the first nation in the world to formally withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Wednesday (Nov 4), three years after President Donald Trump announced his intention to remove the country from participating in the global forum.
The accord is an agreement between nearly 200 nations, to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
According to experts the rise in global temperature results in rise in sea levels, as well as other extreme weather conditions, including hurricanes, drought and wildfires, which could lead to mass migration and shortage in food production.
Experts say the participation of the United States is crucial to inspiring other countries to take responsibility for their roles in global warming, since it is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, representing around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Trump has claimed that the agreement is economically detrimental and that it could cost the country 2.5 million jobs by 2025. He has also criticised the forum, claiming that it gave other major emitters, such as China, a free pass.
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised that he would have the United States rejoin the Paris accord, if elected president.
A day after Washington withdrew from the climate change pact, Biden tweeted, “Today, the Trump Administration officially left the Paris Climate Agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden Administration will rejoin it,”, since if elected, he would take the presidential oath on January 20.
Biden has proposed a $1.7 trillion plan to take the US to net-zero by 2050.
Nevertheless, according to a report by the group America’s Pledge, even without help from Washington, action from cities, states and businesses would still make it possible for the US to cut emissions by 37 percent by 2030.
