Biden to rejoin Paris Climate Accord

 

This is the second article in a series examining the policy changes Biden plans to adopt early after taking office later this month. These executive actions will not require Congress to approve new legislation.

The first article in this series examined Biden’s plans to combat the coronavirus pandemic and rejoin the World Health Organization.

 

 

President Elect Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord after he takes office Jan. 20.

The debate over US involvement in the Paris Climate Accord spans two presidencies and highlights the stark divide between Democrats and Republicans regarding whether the US should take action to address climate change.

 

An Obama priority

Representatives from countries around the world drafted the Paris Climate Accord, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change, in 2015.

President Barack Obama signed the accord as an executive agreement in September 2016, rather than seeking to ratify it as a treaty, which would require Senate approval.

At the time, Republicans controlled the US Senate and would not have approved the accord had it been presented for a vote. 

 

Obama hailed the agreement as an important milestone in the fight against climate change.

“One of the reasons I ran for this office was to make sure that America does its part to protect this planet for future generations,” Obama said. “Over the past seven and a half years, we’ve transformed the United States into a global leader in the fight against climate change.”

“But this is not a fight that any one country, no matter how powerful, can take alone,” Obama continued. “That’s why last December’s Paris Agreement was so important. Nearly 200 nations came together as — a strong, enduring framework to set the world on a course to a low-carbon future.” 

“And someday we may see this as the moment that we finally decided to save our planet,” he added.

 

Primary Source: Paris Climate Accord 

Under the Paris Climate Accord, the Obama Administration pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent of its 2005 levels by 2025.

The Paris Climate Accord states it will become effective thirty days after 55 countries, representing 55 percent of global emissions, submit notice of their approval of the agreement to the secretary-general of the United Nations. 

Those conditions allowed the agreement to take effect Nov. 4, 2016.

 

 

Trump pulls out

Four days later, on Nov. 8, 2016, the US held its presidential election.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who campaigned on withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, won.

Trump has denied that humans are responsible for global warming, which he has called a hoax.  

 

In June 2017, President Donald Trump announced he would withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Accord.

Trump said the agreement was bad for American workers and the American economy.

“As president, I can put no other consideration before the well-being of American citizens,” Trump said. 

“The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States, to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers, who I love, and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lowered wages, shuttered factories and vastly diminished economic production,” he added.  

 

The Trump administration has rolled back regulations designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, power plants, and oil and gas drilling operations.

Trump also suspended US funding for the Green Climate Fund, which provides money to poor countries to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.

The Obama Administration pledged the US would provide $3 billion to the fund, $1 billion of which was provided during Obama’s presidency.

Trump decided not to provide the remaining $2 billion. 

 

Under the Paris Agreement’s own terms, a country can’t begin the process of leaving the accord until three years after it took effect for that country.

For the US, the accord took effect Nov. 4, 2016.

After three years, the country’s government may provide written notice to the UN secretary-general that it plans to leave the agreement. 

After a country submits its notice, it must wait one year before its withdrawal from the agreement takes effect.

The Trump Administration filed its written notice to withdraw from the Paris accord on Nov. 4, 2019, the first day it was able to do so under the agreement. That began the one-year waiting period.

 

 

Biden commits to climate action

Joe Biden, who served as Barack Obama’s vice president, ran against Trump in the 2020 election. Biden, who won the Democratic nomination, campaigned in favor of rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement.

Biden, citing the impact of wildfires and floods, told Pod Save America the US has a responsibility to address climate change.

“It’s the number one issue facing humanity, and it’s the number one issue for me,” Biden said. “Climate change is the existential threat to humanity. Unchecked, it’s going to actually bake this planet. This is not hyperbole, it’s real. We have a moral obligation, not just to young people. We have a moral obligation to everyone.” 

Biden said addressing climate change also provides the US with an opportunity to create jobs and generate economic growth. 

 

 

The US held its most recent presidential election on Nov. 3. In that election, Biden defeated Trump.

The next day, Nov. 4, the one-year waiting period expired, and the US officially left the Paris Climate Accord.

Biden stands by his pledge to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. He has also promised to convene the leaders of major economies for a climate summit during his first 100 days in office.