Trump signs order to withdraw US from Paris climate agreement

Trump signs order to withdraw US from Paris climate agreement for second time

On first day back as president, Trump signs letter giving notice to UN of US exit from treaty seeking to curb climate crisis effects 

Dharna Noor Mon 20 Jan 2025 The Guardian UK

Donald Trump on Monday moved to withdraw the US, the world’s second biggest emitter of planet-heating pollution, from the Paris climate agreement for a second time, and put the United Nations on notice.

On his first day back as president, Trump signed an executive order on stage in front of supporters at an arena in Washington DC which he said was aimed at quitting what he called the “unfair one-sided Paris climate accord rip off”.

He also signed a letter to the United Nations giving it notice that the US was exiting, which starts the formal process of withdrawal from the world’s main effort to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

It will take about a year for the withdrawal to be formalized.

When enacted, the US will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries outside the global agreement, which Joe Biden had rejoined in 2021 after Trump confirmed he would exit it in his first term in 2017.

Trump, who also signed eight other executive orders on stage, told his supporters at the arena: “The United States will not sabotage its own industries while China pollutes with impunity. China uses a lot of dirty energy, but they produce a lot of energy. When that stuff goes up in the air, it doesn’t stay there ... It floats into the United States of America after three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half days.”

The confirmation of the move was also in a White House document published earlier Monday outlining America First Priorities, in a package of measures under the headline “Make America affordable and energy dominant again”.

Trump has also pledged to reverse Biden’s efforts to grow the US’s clean energy sector, which Trump has called “the green new scam”, promising in his inauguration address to “drill baby drill” and remove all limits on America’s booming fossil fuel industry.

The fossil fuel industry is expected to expand further during Trump’s second presidency despite already producing record amounts of oil. Under Biden, the country became the world’s biggest gas producer and last year saw a record 758 oil and gas drilling licenses issued.

One estimate before Trump won last November’s election calculated his return to the White House could add 4bn tonnes to US emissions by 2030.

Gina McCarthy, a former EPA Administrator under Barack Obama, said that Trump “abdicated” his responsibility to Americans by leaving the Paris accord.

“The United States must continue to show leadership on the international stage if we want to have any say in how trillions of dollars in financial investments, policies, and decisions are made that will shape the course of our economy and the world’s ability to fight climate change,” she said in a statement.

During Trump’s first term, pulling the US from the treaty had a limited impact. Though he announced the exit shortly after taking the oath of office in 2017, the decision did not take effect until November 2020 due to complicated United Nations regulations. This time, however, Trump’s withdrawal could take as little as one year as the administration will not be bound by the accord’s initial three-year commitment.

In the weeks before Trump’s inauguration, the outgoing Biden administration formally filed new plans under the Paris agreement for tougher 2035 emissions targets for the US, intended as a “capstone” on his legacy on the climate, which included the landmark clean energy investment in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Under Biden’s new target, the US would have had to cut greenhouse gases by between 61% and 66% by 2035, compared with 2005 levels – a substantial strengthening of current goals that administration officials said would put the US on the path to net zero carbon by 2050.

Though he was mindful that Trump would not adhere to the targets rolled out in December, Biden’s senior adviser, John Podesta, at the time said: “Sub-national leaders across the US can continue to show the world that US climate leadership is determined by so much more than who sits in the Oval Office.”

Climate advocates now hope cities and leaders across the US will continue to push the clean energy transition, with Republican districts benefitting most from the IRA investment, and cleaner energy, particularly solar, being cheaper than dirty energy like coal.

“[R]est assured, our states, cities, businesses, and local institutions stand ready to pick up the baton of US climate leadership and do all they can – despite federal complacency – to continue the shift to a clean energy economy,” said McCarthy, who is now managing co-chair of America Is All In, a coalition of climate-concerned American leaders.

Basav Sen, a director at the left-leaning thinktank Institute for Policy Studies, said that though he believes the Paris agreement is inadequate to limit global warming, Trump exiting it is “reprehensible”.

“He and his administration do not care about cooperative global action to avert climate catastrophe, and want to recklessly expand fossil fuel production,” he said.

The fossil fuel industry donated $75m to Trump’s campaign.

The US’s withdrawal from the climate agreement “undermines the collective fight against climate change at a time when unity and urgency are more critical than ever”, said Harjeet Singh, climate activist and founding director of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation. The impact of the decisions will be felt most harshly by developing countries, he said.

“These vulnerable nations and communities, which have contributed the least to global emissions, will bear the brunt of intensifying floods, rising seas, and crippling droughts,” Singh said in a statement.

In November 2025, world leaders will meet in Brazil for a global UN summit, which is likely to be the last chance for the world to forge a global plan to prevent temperatures reaching 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Experts say fossil fuel emissions must be cut quickly and deeply to avoid the worst outcomes including more extreme weather, sea level rise, biodiversity loss, food and water insecurity and worsening health impacts.

Paul Bledsoe, a former Clinton White House climate official who now lectures at American University’s Center for Environmental Policy, speaking at the time of the Biden targets being announced in December last year, said: “Trump is risking the climate stability and safety of the planet as part of a culture war political strategy, heedless of billions who will suffer.”

Trump’s announcement confirming he will quit the Paris agreement comes days after the outbreak of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, the latest in a growing series of extreme weather disasters linked to the climate crisis. Experts have described how the fires are linked to unprecedented compounding climate conditions of extreme hurricane winds, drought and relatively high temperatures in January. They have caused at least 27 deaths and as much as $250bn of dollars of damage. Trump used the disaster to spread disinformation and stoke political division.⍐

Trump order for US to exit WHO prompts alarm

Donald Trump has announced that the US will exit the World Health Organization and suspend all foreign aid for three months, in a move that will leave critical humanitarian work in jeopardy and threaten the global fight against infectious diseases.

In an executive order signed on his first day in office, Trump declared that the US would leave the UN global public health agency in 12 months’ time and stop all financial contributions to its work.

Washington is by far the WHO’s biggest financial backer, contributing about 18% of its overall funding. The Geneva-based agency’s most recent two-year budget, for 2024-25, was $6.8bn.

In a separate executive order, Trump announced a pause on foreign development assistance for 90 days pending a review, in a move that will leave aid organisations scrambling to see if they are affected.

WHO projects across the world are seen as a vital backup for health crises, with the agency taking the lead in combating diseases, particularly in poorer countries and conflict zones. It has coordinated international responses to mpox, Ebola and polio.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the WHO said it “regrets” the announcement, adding that it “plays a crucial role in protecting the health and security of the world’s people, including Americans”.

Separately, German health minister, Karl Lauterbach, said his government would “try to persuade Donald Trump to reconsider this decision”.

Lauterbach said the new US president’s announcement was “a serious blow to the international fight against global health crises”.

Trump claims the WHO failed to act independently from the “inappropriate political influence of WHO member states” and required “unfairly onerous payments” from the US that are disproportionate to the sums provided by other, larger countries, such as China.

“World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen any more,” Trump said at the signing.

Members of the global health community said that Trump’s decision could backfire on the US.

Dr Pete Baker, deputy director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development thinktank, said the decision to withdraw was “highly regrettable”.

“It undermines global health security and risks progress on critical issues like pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance,” he said.

“However, it is worth putting the US withdrawal into perspective,” he added. “If other member states or philanthropists step up and provide more flexible funding – even if it’s less than the US provides – this could help WHO be more agile and focused in delivering its mandate.”

A bigger threat, Baker said, came from an accompanying withdrawal of US support from attempts to negotiate a pandemic agreement.

Departure from UN agency in 12 months would leave Americans vulnerable, say public health experts

“The political support of the US for the global health security architecture is irreplaceable. If this continues, it will seriously hamper the world’s efforts to ensure preparedness for future health threats.”

Lawrence Gostin, professor of public health law at Georgetown University, said leaving the WHO would leave Americans vulnerable, as US health agencies and pharmaceutical companies rely on WHO data for vaccines and therapies.

“He’s unraveling US engagement & funding now. That’s unlawful & a grave strategic error,” Gostin said on X.

“Trump could be sowing the seeds for the next pandemic.”

Trump’s withdrawal from the WHO is not unexpected. He took steps to quit the body in 2020, during his first term as president, accusing the WHO of aiding China’s efforts to “mislead the world” about the origins of Covid-19. That move was later reversed under former president Joe Biden’s administration.

The WHO denies the allegation and says it continues to press Beijing to share data to determine whether Covid-19 emerged from human contact with infected animals or due to research into similar viruses in a domestic laboratory.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Beijing would continue supporting the WHO.

“The role of the WHO should only be strengthened, not weakened,” Guo Jiakun said.

“China will, as always, support the WHO in fulfilling its responsibilities … and work towards building a shared community of health for humanity.”

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report