USA Exiting The Paris Agreement

The effects of climate change can be felt by anyone mindful enough to see it. There are things that people can do on an individual level to contribute towards saving the planet before it’s too late but these things are less effective on their own. There was a need for a global treaty which committed its members to making changes on the national levels and reducing the emissions till a sustainable outcome is reached. The Paris agreement came into existence hence in 2015 when 196 parties negotiated the agreement in the United nations climate change conference 2015 in Paris, France. It came into focus again when the US first left the Paris agreement under the Trump administration and then readmitted itself on the first day of Joe Biden’s presidency. The impact of the US leaving the paris agreement was significant on the world stage. 

The Paris Agreement

The Paris agreement accomplished is the most significant step as it is the most important climate change treaty to exist at the current times. The goal of The Paris agreement is to curb the emissions around the global in order to sustain the rise of temperature 2 degree celsius above the pre-industrial levels (preferably 1.5 degree celsius) as it would reduce the extreme effects of climate change and ensure the survival of humanity in more favourable conditions. The Paris Agreement aims at reducing emissions gradually and reaching a net zero on emissions by the year of 2050. 

The Paris agreement has a bottom-up structure which allows for the developing countries to set their own NDC targets while the developed countries have a higher responsibility.    

US politics affecting its decision to leave the Paris agreement

It was the general consensus around the world that it was wrong of Donald Trump to make the decision of leaving the Paris Agreement as the USA is not just a global superpower but also the second largest contributor of greenhouse gases emission second only to China. It was also a morale loss for the environmentalists and world organisations around the world as it might lead to the first link in a chain of countries leaving following USA’s example. The Paris Climate Agreement pros and cons do exist but it still remains an important entity in the fight against climate change.

An overview on USA Exiting The Paris Agreement and the process of withdrawal

In his very first year of holding the office, Donald Trump’s administration served an official notice to the United Nations that the USA was to leave the Paris Agreement as soon as it was possible for it to do so.

According to the terms of the Paris agreement, the notice of withdrawal could only be submitted when a country has been a party to the Paris Agreement for at least three years. For the USA, that date came to be the fourth of november 2019 when the official notice for withdrawal was submitted to the United Nations Secretary General. According to the terms, the country could officially leave one year after the submittance of withdrawal. The USA finally left the Paris agreement on 4th of November, 2020. 

US readmittance

Joe Biden proved true to the promises he made during his presidential campaign as on his very first day of serving as president, he entered the USA back into the Paris Agreement by an executive order. Article 21.3 of the Paris agreement requires a thirty day wait period before a country is officially a member to the Paris Agreement and so thirty days later, USA was readmitted back into The Paris Agreement.

Significance of US in the paris agreement

The USA emerged as a superpower post world war two and has been an active global power meddling in several foriegn and global affairs. The impact of the country with the highest GDP of nearly 20 trillion is surmountable on the rest of the globe. Various concerns arose when the United States of America chose to leave the most significant climate change accord that is the Paris Agreement. One of the concerns was its greenhouse gases emission which is the second most among all the countries. With no check on its emissions and no effort to reduce them, the Paris Agreement might fail to reach the goals it had set just half the decade prior. Another major concern was the loss of morale and weight the Paris Agreement might suffer as the US leaving the Paris agreement might influence the other countries in doing so as well or losing faith in the Agreement and its objectives itself.

Conclusion

The leaving and readmittance of USA in regards to the Paris Agreement once again brings highlight to the importance of existence of such agreement in the first place. While criticised for being not adequate by the environmentalists and scientists around the world, the Paris Agreement still stands to be a global effort in mitigating the severe effects of climate change and working to build more sustainable methods around the globe. It might not be adequate enough but is important in the sense that 193 global entities are members to it and are putting efforts in one direction and with similar mindset. The withdrawal by such a country as the USA was a huge stress and its readmittance a huge relief as it is one of the largest contributors both in emission and in influence across the world.