Paris Agreement

Compared to other developed nations, the United States would feel little impact from climate mitigation efforts modeled on the Paris accord, said two Purdue University researchers on Thursday.

According to a UN report, 2017 is on track to be one of the three hottest years on record. The cause, it says, is climate change, which the report implicates in “extraordinary weather,” including extreme hurricanes, floods, and droughts.

After President Trump withdrew U.S. participation in the Paris climate treaty, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $15 million to help developing countries meet their goals under the agreement, says NPR.

During the last day of the G-7 summit in Italy, President Trump tweeted that he’ll decide later this week whether the U.S. will stay in the Paris Agreement, says the Los Angeles Times. The agreement, signed by almost 200 countries, including the U.S. under President Obama, calls for lowering greenhouse-gas emissions. It's widely supported by the other G-7 countries: Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Japan.

The Paris climate treaty is a “bad deal” for the U.S. said Scott Pruitt, while adding that the country should stay “engaged" in international climate discussions.

In the past it’s been the U.S. pushing China to clean up its energy portfolio and lower emissions, but under Trump the tables could turn, says The New York Times. China has publicly called on all signatories, including the U.S., of the Paris climate treaty to respect the pact. Trump has said he will back out of the deal and this week signed an executive order to reverse the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which lowered carbon emissions from coal plants.

President Trump officially rolled back Obama’s Clean Power Plan, signing a document called the “Energy Independence” executive order, says The New York Times. Even though many economists have said that the rise in demand for natural gas — and not climate change regulations — are to blame for a depressed coal market, Trump promised his order would put the miners back to work.

President Trump will soon cancel the Obama-era policy that demanded federal agencies account for the “social cost of carbon” when drafting new regulations, says Reuters. Under Obama, agency officials had to quantify the economic damage of an activity, like coal mining or oil drilling, based on its contribution to climate change.

Erik Solheim, executive director of the UN Environment Program, says he’s troubled by president-elect Trump’s appointments so far, says Reuters. " I am concerned that some elite American politicians deny science. You will be in the Middle Ages if you deny science," he said.

If Donald Trump pushes ahead with his promises to dismantle President Obama’s climate-change policies, he’ll face tough fights from environmental groups. But Trump has a few tactics he can use to outmaneuver the opposition, reports The New York Times.

Donald Trump now says he has an “open mind” about the Paris Agreement, an international deal to curb greenhouse-gas emissions that was signed by more than 190 countries, including the U.S. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to cancel U.S. involvement in the agreement, calling climate change a hoax.

More than 300 companies, including Monsanto and Unilever, called on President-elect Donald Trump, President Obama and Congress to continue U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement, reports NPR. The international treaty commits countries to lowering global climate emissions and keeping world temperature increases below two degrees beyond the pre-industrial standard.

At climate talks in Marrakesh, Morocco, leaders from France and the United Nations urged President-elect Donald Trump to rethink his promise to back out of the Paris Agreement, reports Reuters. Trump has said he wants to cancel the U.S. commitment to the treaty, which aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Under a Trump administration, China could become the world champion for climate change reform, says Reuters: “China worked closely with the administration of outgoing President Barack Obama to build momentum ahead of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The partnership of the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters helped get nearly 200 countries to support the pact at the historic meet in France's capital.”

News of Donald Trump’s election shocked the international climate-change proceedings taking place this week in Marrakech, Morocco. During his campaign, Trump vowed to revoke America’s participation in the Paris Agreement, a global plan to keep temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial averages. More than 190 countries have signed the agreement, and many consider it a last hope for fighting climate change. Trump has also vowed to dismantle President Obama’s clean power plan.

The five-year period from 2011 to 2015 was the hottest on record, according to a report released by the World Meteorological Organization at international climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco. “Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, reports the Seattle Times.