President Trump has announced his intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement – the global accord which implements the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under the agreement, the U.S. had previously submitted a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in which we committed to reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. In his announcement, Trump stated that “as of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the Paris Agreement” including the NDC and contributions to the Green Climate Fund.
Notably, the Paris Agreement does not allow parties to submit their notice of withdrawal until three years after its entry into force (November 4, 2016). Once a party does submit such notice, there is a one year period before the withdrawal becomes effective. Thus, the withdrawal will not become effective until November 4, 2020 (shortly after the next presidential election).
The agreement does not explicitly address the procedures for rejoining the agreement after exiting, but it is likely that a future President could re-join the agreement. More on this >>