The United States has finally completed the process of withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement.

According to the established procedure, the document terminated automatically, exactly one year after Washington notified the UN of its intention to refuse to fulfill the clauses of the treaty.  

The initiator of the cancellation of this international legal document was made by US President Donald Trump, who considers it unprofitable for the American economy.

"In fulfillment of my sacred duty to America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement," Trump said earlier.

From leader to outsider

The Paris Climate Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015 following the 21st conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

It is intended to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force in 2005.

The new document limiting greenhouse gas emissions was supported by almost 200 states.

The Paris Agreement envisages a set of measures designed to prevent the global average annual temperature on Earth from rising by more than 2 до from pre-industrial levels by 2100.

The parties to the agreement pledged to adopt national plans to reduce emissions and adapt industry to climate change.

The document entered into force on November 4, 2016.

The United States has pledged to cut emissions by 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2025 and has committed to committing $ 3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, which was set up to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement by developing countries.

Former US President Barack Obama, Democrat, saw the conclusion of the Paris Agreement as a source of national pride.

In his opinion, the United States has become a global leader in the fight against climate change.

  • Former US President Barack Obama

  • Reuters

  • © Kevin Lamarque

From Obama's point of view, the implementation of the provisions of the treaty will allow not only avoiding the negative consequences of climate change, but also creating new jobs in the United States, ensuring economic growth by attracting investments in low-carbon technologies.

Trump's statement on the need for the country to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, made on June 1, 2017, was called by the ex-president "a rejection of the future."

Obama expressed confidence that American states and cities will continue to fight to reduce carbon emissions.

The Democratic Party also opposed the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Trump's policy did not find understanding abroad either.

The actions of the head of the White House were condemned in Russia and Europe.

Thus, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, "the United States has turned its back on the world."

"Restrains industrial growth"

The main rationale behind Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement was the forecast that, due to the implementation of the treaty, the United States will lose 2.7 million jobs by 2025.

In addition, according to estimates by the White House administration, the total economic damage to the country by 2040 could amount to $ 3 trillion.

Experts are inclined to believe that the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was dictated to a greater extent by the lobbying of American industrial circles.

“American oil and auto manufacturers, owners of large plants, have an interest in withdrawing from this agreement, as it constrains US industrial growth.

These circles fear that they will lose competition to China, which, along with the United States, is the main polluter of the planet, "Pavel Feldman, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, said in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, Trump demonstrates that he is the spokesman for the interests of "large nationally oriented capital."

By doing so, the US President is rendering a service to the sponsors of his 2016 election campaign.

Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Political-Military Studies at the Institute for the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, shares a similar point of view.

According to him, Trump, like other members of the Republican Party, primarily represents the interests of American big business.

“The Republicans are the party of big business.

They proceed from the premise that all barriers to American business activity must be eliminated in the most decisive way.

What is good for big business is supposedly good for America, ”Batiuk explained.

Climate split

The procedure for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement was delayed for bureaucratic reasons and eventually fell on November 4, 2020.

The US State Department notified the UN of its intention to leave the treaty in August 2017.

However, in accordance with the established rules, the acceptance of applications for withdrawal from the document opened only on November 4, 2019, three years after its entry into force.

It was on this day that the official procedure for canceling the Paris Agreement was launched, for which exactly one year was allotted. 

  • Joe Biden at a meeting with workers

  • Reuters

  • © Brendan McDermid

However, if Joe Biden wins the election, the United States is likely to return to the climate treaty.

The restoration of Washington's participation in the agreement is spelled out in the Democrat's election program.

It says the United States will convene a summit to persuade the leaders of the world's major powers to follow the United States and adopt more ambitious national climate protection programs.

In his speeches, Biden stressed that the United States would certainly become a party to the Paris Agreement.

This decision will be one of Biden's first steps if he takes over as President of the United States.

Biden's plans are to stimulate the development of alternative energy and the distribution of electric cars in the country.

On November 3, on Election Day in the US presidential election, Biden warned of the dire environmental consequences of the triumph of the current head of the White House.

"If we let Donald Trump spend another four years in the White House, our planet will never recover," Biden wrote on his Twitter page.

Experts believe that the contradictions over the Paris Agreement may complicate the already extremely tense domestic political situation in the United States, regardless of the outcome of the elections.

Analysts predict that Democrats and Republicans will not be able to reach a compromise on this issue, which will only exacerbate the split in American society.

“The fate of the Paris Agreement, of course, is not a key issue for America, but now, amid political instability and disagreement over the voting results, the dispute over the climate will only exacerbate the rift between the two major ideological groups - Republicans and Democrats,” says Pavel Feldaman.

Vladimir Batyuk also believes that climate issues will become one of the points of the political struggle, which is likely to unfold with renewed vigor in the post-election period.

According to the expert, the American extractive sector will provide strong resistance to Washington's return to the Paris Agreement.

“American society is deeply divided, as evidenced by the campaign itself and the way the vote count is going.

In any case, there will be a lot of dissatisfied.

And the restoration of the Paris Agreement will hit the interests of the American energy industry, in particular, shale oil production.

There is no doubt that the indignation will be strong enough, ”Batiuk said.