United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and try to negotiate a "new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers." He also criticised the Paris Climate Accord for not being tough on India and China
"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord... but begin negotiations to reenter either the Paris Accord or a really entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers," Trump said on Thursday.
He added: "The Paris Climate Accord... disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers... and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production... As of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country."
Calling it a "self-inflicted major economic wound," Trump complained that the agreement allows other countries to receive monetary aid from the US, thereby putting the country at a "great financial disadvantage." He also said that the climate accord — which was signed under former US President Barack Obama — gives "unfair" benefits to India and China.
"China will be able to increase these emissions by a staggering number of years -- 13. They can do whatever they want for 13 years. Not us. India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions and billions and billions of dollars in foreign aid from developed countries," the US President said in his speech.
He added: "China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So we can't build the plants, but they can... India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020. Think of it: India can double their coal production. We're supposed to get rid of ours. Even Europe is allowed to continue construction of coal plants."
Trump, however, said that he was willing to work with the Democrat leaders to reach a conclusion and re-enter the Paris accord but on terms that were fair to the US. "Until we do that, we are out of the agreement," he said.
The US has now become the third country, after Nicaragua and Syria, to remain out of the Paris Climate Accord. Nicaragua and Syria never signed the agreement. Under the Obama administration, around 200 countries decided to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in 2015 in an effort to combat climate change.
Trump has consistently called climate change a hoax and the Paris Climate Accord a deal to weaken the US business and industry.
