Luke Kemp, of the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the Australian National University, wrote in a commentary for Nature that “withdrawal is unlikely to change U.S. emissions” because “U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are disconnected from international legal obligations.” He added, however, that this could hamper efforts to mitigate climate change if the United States ceases to contribute to the Green Climate Fund. Kemp said the impact of a U.S. exit could be good or bad for the Paris agreement, because “an unseraunted American president can do more damage inside than outside the agreement.” Finally, “a withdrawal could also make the United States a climate pariah and provide China and the EU with a unique opportunity to take control of the climate regime and significantly strengthen their international reputation and soft power.” [16] On the other hand, there is the belief that China is not in a position to take control of the climate regime and that it should instead “help rebuild global leadership by replacing the Sino-Chinese G2 partnership with a climate 5 (C5) partnership comprising China, the EU, India, Brazil and South Africa.” [14] The content of this blog post was originally disseminated via the ENB Linkages Update-Mail, our regular analysis of trends and events in multilateral environmental agreements. To make sure you don`t miss our team`s previews, subscribe to the Linkages update in your inbox. The main objective of the agreement is to keep the increase in the average global temperature at a level well below 2oC above pre-industrial levels, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement is different from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the last UNFCCC amendment, which was widely adopted, as no annex is established to reduce the liability of developing countries. On the contrary, emission targets have been negotiated separately for each nation and must be implemented voluntarily, so U.S. officials view the Paris agreement as an executive agreement rather than a legally binding agreement. This reversed the U.S.
Congress` commitment to ratify the agreement. [20] In April 2016, the United States signed the Paris Agreement and adopted it by executive order in September 2016. President Obama forced the United States to pay $3 billion for the Green Climate Fund. [21] The Fund has set a goal of raising $100 billion per year by 2020. “No matter what you think of global warming, and the type of warming, the pace, you have to take these growing economies seriously and help them, and I just haven`t seen Paris achieve that goal, effectively or constructively.” At a rose garden ceremony on June 1, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump declared his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.
