The State of the Paris Agreement

The United States is pulling out of the Paris Agreement once more. On his first day back in the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump wasted no time before signing an executive order and a letter to the UN that declared the country will be withdrawing from the climate accord, and in doing so, joining Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only four nations to stand outside of the deal. It will take around a year for the withdrawal process to be completed.

The Paris Agreement was created in 2015 as a global treaty where governments committed to trying to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This limit was designed to keep the world from experiencing the most severe impacts of climate change. The U.S. is currently the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter and is also the second-highest emitter of carbon dioxide emissions per capita.

The move marks the second time that the U.S. has withdrawn from the deal, following a similar announcement by Trump during his first term in office. His then-successor Joe Biden rejoined the agreement in 2021.