Donald Trump’s administration has exited the 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by 196 parties, aimed at taking action on climate change.
The fate of the climate crisis is hanging on the result of the presidential election, after the United States, under Donald Trump, officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement.
The global pact was put together five years ago in order to minimise humanity’s impact on the environment and avert the threat of climate change.
The Paris Agreement was negotiated between 196 state parties within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the agreement aimed at keeping the global increase of average temperatures to below two degrees Celcius – and ideally below 1.5 Celcius.
Scientists believed an increase of more than two degrees would see a rise in sea levels, droughts, floods, and general destruction across Planet Earth.
Even when being forced out of office, the Trump Administration has managed to leave their mark on the planet, with Trump originally setting the US exit in motion a year ago, before it finally took effect yesterday on November 4th.
Today is the day the US legally withdraws from the Paris agreement on climate change. As votes continue to be counted it’s a stark reminder of how much is at stake #Election2020
— Lisa Nandy (@lisanandy) November 4, 2020
With America dropping the ball on climate action, China, Japan, and South Korea have recently joined the European Union in a net-zero pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
The involvement of the US in helping save the world now rests on the potential of Joe Biden being elected president, with the Democrat having said he would immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement and look to reverse the economic downturn from the pandemic.
However, even if he were to win, Biden faces hard opposition from the US Senate, with Republicans still maintaining some control of both the House and the Senate.
With four years of Trump already taking its toll on the environment, let’s hope that four more years isn’t on the cards.
