US formally exits Paris Agreement, says Trump administration notice

Gulf Today Report

The United States formally exited the Paris Agreement on Wednesday, Japan’s top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said on Thursday.

The United States’ withdrawal from the global climate pact is fulfilling an old promise by President Donald Trump to withdraw the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter from the global pact to fight climate change.

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The Trump administration formally served notice of the withdrawal to the United Nations on Nov. 4, 2019, which took one year to take effect.

Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said,  “The US withdrawal will leave a gap in our regime, and the global efforts to achieve the goals and ambitions of the Paris Agreement."

Protestors stand inside the Italie Deux shopping mall in Paris during a demonstration. AFP

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato told reporters that, “the climate change issue isn’t something of a single country, it should be addressed by the entire international community.”

“From that point of view, it’s extremely regrettable that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement now,” he said.

However, other major emitters have doubled down on climate action even without guarantees the US will follow suit. China, Japan and South Korea have all pledged in recent weeks to become carbon neutral — a commitment already made by the European Union.

Those pledges will help drive the huge low-carbon investments needed to curb climate change. If the United States were to re-enter the Paris accord, it would give those efforts "a massive shot in the arm", Woodroofe said.