SECOND US WITHDRAWAL FROM CLIMATE PACT
Once Trump took office in January, the US submitted its withdrawal for a second time from the Paris Agreement, a 2015 pact agreed by 195 countries to strive to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 C, leaving it in the company of only Yemen, Iran and Libya.
His administration is carrying out an “energy dominance” agenda that focuses on producing and exporting oil, gas and coal, as well as nuclear, while sidelining renewable energy, which has become cost-competitive.
“We have the most oil of any nation anywhere, oil and gas in the world, and if you add coal, we have the most of any nation in the world,” he said.
His remarks come a day before UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hosts a climate summit at the UN that will focus on countries’ new climate action plans.
Guterres has tried to keep the world focused on continuing a global transition away from fossil fuels towards clean energy.
“Just follow the money,” Guterres said in June, adding that US$2 trillion flowed into clean energy last year, US$800 billion more than fossil fuels and up almost 70 percent in a decade.
Source: CNA
