The Paris agreement: Whither the world after America’s retreat?

Print section UK Only Article:  standard article Fly Title:  The Paris agreement Main image:  20170603_irp502.jpg IN THE end, not even the pope’s pleas were enough to persuade Donald Trump to go back on his campaign promise to leave the Paris agreement. The arguments of his advisers, such as strategist Steve Bannon and the head of America’s Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, proved decisive. Populist concerns trumped planetary ones. On June 1st, after several days of speculation, the president announced that America will leave the climate deal. “I was elected to represent citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” he declared. He described the Paris agreement as a “self-inflicted major economic wound”. His chief of staff, Reince Priebus, wore a green tie for the occasion. The climate deal, which seeks to keep the rise in average global temperatures “well below” 2°C, compared with pre-industrial times, was adopted in December 2015 by 195 countries. Such wide endorsement reflects its modest aims and flexible construction: almost all the signatories made voluntary pledges to curb emissions of greenhouse gases by whatever means ...

from #AlexandrosSfakianakis via Alexandros G.Sfakianakis on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2rZeB4O
via IFTTT