On June 1, 2017, the United States officially announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change. This move sparked widespread criticism from environmentalists and world leaders who saw it as a major setback in the fight against climate change.
The Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015 by 195 countries with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Each country set its own emissions reduction targets, and pledged to report on progress every five years.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama played a key role in the negotiation and adoption of the agreement, but his successor, Donald Trump, had expressed his opposition to the deal during his campaign and announced his intention to withdraw the United States from it shortly after taking office.
The withdrawal process took four years, as the agreement required a one-year notice period before any country could formally withdraw. During that time, the United States was still technically a party to the agreement and was expected to continue reporting on its emissions reductions progress.
The formal withdrawal finally took effect on November 4, 2020, one day after the U.S. presidential election. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement once he takes office in January 2021.
The withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement was a significant blow to global efforts to combat climate change. The country is the world`s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and its absence from the agreement could make it more difficult to achieve the global emissions reductions needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
In conclusion, the United States officially removed itself from the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017, after a notice period of four years. This decision was met with criticism from environmentalists and world leaders, and it remains to be seen how the absence of the United States will affect global efforts to combat climate change.