Is Trump's Decision To Withdraw From The Paris Agreement Sensible?

In what has come as a shocker to the whole world, especially Europe, is that the United States’ President, Donald Trump has decided to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The 70-year-old said that the agreement was harsh on the US economy and that other countries like China and India were benefiting more from the accord than them. He has urged to negotiate a more “fair” deal that would not disadvantage US businesses.

The much talked about agreement commits the US and 187 other countries to keep rising global temperatures “well below” 2C and limit them even more to 1.5C. The only other nations that did not sign the agreement in the first place are Syria and Nicaragua.

Many pundits and opponents of the Republicans have voiced in unison that withdrawing from the accord sets a wrong example on the world stage and is an abdication of US leadership on a vital global challenge.

What Is Trump’s Stance On The Agreement?

When Donald Trump was campaigning in 2016, in many of the agendas he promised to make America great again, one extreme agenda was to help his country’s coal and oil industries. This withdrawal from the climate agreement can be seen as a repercussion to that. For a brief background, the United States is the second largest regarding carbon emissions, accounting for about 15% of it globally. However, it is also a major source of providing finance and technology to other developing countries to keep the global temperature in check.

(Image Courtesy: BBC)

In the speech which he recently delivered to inform the world about America’s withdrawal from the accord, POTUS characterized the agreement as a deal that has the potential to impoverish the economy of the country. Adding to that, he claimed that the deal would cost the US $3tn in GDP and more than 6 million jobs. He also emphasized on the fact that he sees this deal more favorable for countries like China and India and that it is a definite job killer in his country.

What Can Be The Effects Of This Pull Out?

One thing that is most certain to happen is that US’s withdrawal from the agreement will hurt the deal in more ways than one and it is bound to make things tougher for the world to reach the goals of the accord that it has set or itself. Apart from the finance and technology that the US provides, the question of moral leadership also arises, which they would be giving up, and this could have consequences for other diplomatic efforts.

(Image Courtesy: Climate Interactive)

This pull out by the strongest nation of the world could bear many positive results for their Asian counterparts, China. Xi Jinping’s government has firmly ascertained its stance on the agreement and has assured the European Union (EU) to make substantial efforts to cut carbon. China’s active and close participation with the EU can make things a little difficult for America as their stance in this Paris agreement, and the National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is something that the EU sees highly unfavorable for itself and the world. This is also a golden opportunity for the Asian giants to recover a tarnished image globally as a clean energy innovator.

This decision of Trump has mostly received negative comments from world leaders including the corporate sector of the US, which seems to be strongly in opposition to this ruling. Leaders of companies like Google, Apple among others have urged the President not to pull out from the accord as they see this move as a way to hamper their business on the global stage, fearing it may have consequences for their business with many European countries.

(Featured Image Courtesy: Courtney Harris)