It was no surprise, but the announcement remains a test for climate action. On his first day back in office, on Monday, January 20, Donald Trump signed an executive order and a letter to the United Nations withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Agreements, which he called "unfair" and a "rip-off."

The US president, a climate skeptic who believes climate change is a "hoax," is turning his back on the rest of the world for the second time in the fight against the climate crisis, despite the multiplication of its impacts, as felt by Los Angeles residents whose homes have been destroyed by wildfires. The Republican had already pulled the US out of the international treaty in his first term before Democrat Joe Biden returned in 2021. The new withdrawal is not yet effective. It will only take place in one year, according to the rules of the multilateral text sealed in 2015. The US will then join Iran, Libya and Yemen, the only three countries not to have ratified the 195-party text.

While this departure cannot halt the environmental transition that has become unavoidable, it is likely to compromise the country's climate objectives, as well as slow down the fight against global warming. The US is the world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China, the world's biggest polluter and the world's biggest oil producer.

You have 80.62% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.