U.S. officially withdraws from Paris Agreement on climate change

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By Mary Rose Corkery
Daily Caller News Foundation

The U.S. officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement on climate change Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

The 2015 agreement was ratified by 189 countries and six more have signed, but have yet to ratify, the AP reported. President Donald Trump sparked criticism and support after announcing the U.S’s withdrawal in 2017, according to another AP report.

“Having the U.S. pull out of Paris is likely to reduce efforts to mitigate, and therefore increase the number of people who are put into a life-or-death situation because of the impacts of climate change: this is clear from the science,” Engineering Professor Natalie Mahowald at Cornell University, said, according to the AP.

U.S. formally leaves Paris climate pact https://t.co/Nvo1Y476Yo pic.twitter.com/0cdUKqttOD

— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) November 4, 2020

The agreement’s purpose includes decreasing the world’s temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Talks regarding the agreement are scheduled for 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, the AP reported.

“We will continue to work with our global partners to enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change and prepare for and respond to natural disasters,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation by a State Department spokesperson.

“Just as we have in the past, the United States will continue to research, innovate, and grow our economy while reducing emissions and extending a helping hand to our friends and partners around the globe,” Pompeo continued.

The spokesperson told the DCNF the U.S. is the world’s number one disaster relief provider and continues to support worldwide environmental safety and natural disasters.

“The United States supports a balanced approach that promotes economic growth and improves energy security while protecting the environment with affordable and reliable clean energy technologies,” the spokesperson continued. “U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions dropped over 10 percent from 2005 to 2018, even as our economy grew over 25 percent.”

“We remain committed to energy access worldwide with the deployment of reliable and affordable clean energy technologies,” the spokesperson added.

Mahowald and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change didn’t immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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