President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw US from the Paris climate agreement, hours after he took office on Monday. This marks Trump's second time withdrawing from the pact; he had first done so during his previous term in 2017, but President Biden rejoined the agreement upon his election in 2021.
The order stated that the agreement, “(does) not reflect our country’s values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives”. Instead, it said that US should be a model for other countries given its “success” in advancing both its environmental and economic objectives.
Trump also stated in his order that his administration prioritises the interests of the United States and its people against international agreements that could “harm” the American economy. “These agreements must not unduly or unfairly burden the United States.”
The Agreement which was signed in 2015 by nearly 200 countries aimed to address climate change by committing to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while striving to keep it to 1.5 degrees.
The order comes days after US faced a devastating climate emergency in the form of catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles claiming at least 10 lives, displacing approximately 180,000 people, and causing an estimated $250 billion loss in damages. The fires raged across the city during what should have been its wet season.
The move to withdraw from this agreement which aims to keep a check on rising global temperatures also comes after 2024 was declared the hottest year on record.
Apart from the Paris Agreement withdrawal, Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at expanding fossil fuel production and reducing energy costs. He declared a national "energy emergency" to increase domestic energy production and reverse Biden’s climate protections, including promoting oil and gas development in Alaska and undoing safeguards for Arctic lands and US coastal waters.
He also repealed the Biden administration’s federal targets for electric vehicles, clean power, and low-carbon buildings. Additionally, Trump weakened EPA tailpipe emissions rules, which had been seen as encouraging the shift to electric vehicles.
