The United States has pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, with President Donald Trump alleging that it was partial to some of the world’s highly polluting countries such as India and China.
He reportedly said that whereas India and China were allowed to build hundreds of additional coal mines and double their coal production; the US was asked to reduce its coal production.
“Even though the US is USD20 trillion in debt, billions of dollars that should be invested in our country, will go to countries that have been taking our jobs if the Paris Accord comes into effect. We want fair treatment before those countries start laughing at us,” Trump said without acknowledging the fact that the US is second only to China in terms of carbon emission.
It had been Trump’s pre-election promise to cancel the Paris climate deal within 100 days of becoming president in order to boost US oil and coal industries.
On the other hand, India termed the Paris Accord as the great hope to stop the rise of global warming by cutting down on carbon emission. PM Modi has made it clear that India will not pull out even if the US does.
The Paris Climate Accord will come into effect only if a minimum of 55 countries ratify it. As many as 61 countries have committed to this climate deal at the end of 2016.