Unic Press UK: The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is in receipt of a notification from the United States expressing the country’s intention to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement of April 2016.
The notification of U.S. proposed withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was delivered to Guterres on Friday by a U.S. delegation. The U.S. will exercise its right to withdraw, save it identifies suitable terms of re-engagement.
In a press statement on Friday, the UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said:
“As the Secretary-General said in a statement on 1 June 2017, the decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security. It is crucial that the United States remains a leader on climate and sustainable development. Climate change is impacting now. He looks forward to engaging with the American government and all other actors in the United States and around the world to build the sustainable future for our children and future generations.”
Any of the parties to the Paris Climate Agreement may withdraw under Article 28 of the Agreement so long as such withdrawal is activated after three years from the date on which the Agreement entered into force for that Party, and “such withdrawal takes effect upon expiry of one year from the date of receipt by the Depositary of the notification of withdrawal.” In effect, the United States is under obligation to stay in the pact until at least 2019.
The Paris Climate Agreement commands all all nations to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and forge a global response to the threats emanating from climate change. It seeks to keep a “global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
