Could Trump Simply Withdraw U.S. From Paris Climate Agreement?

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Publish Date:
November 10, 2016
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Scientific American
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Summary

President-elect Donald Trump now has free rein to make good on his pledge to “cancel” last year’s landmark climate deal.

Trump has said throughout this year’s presidential campaign that if elected, he would withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, or at least “renegotiate” it. Now he can try.

Michael Wara, an environmental law professor at the Stanford Law School, said Trump could use his office to issue an executive communication removing the United States from Paris, but even if he did that, the United States would still be a party for four years and could be subject to its legally binding procedural commitments.

The United States and other parties are called upon to submit new nationally determined contributions for 2030 by 2020, and Wara said Trump could put forward a “business-as-usual” placeholder to stay on the right side of international law.

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