Memorandum on the Paris Climate Accords

TO: United States Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt

FROM: Kristen Fontaine 

DATE: 25 April 2018 

SUBJECT: The United States Re-entering the Paris Climate Accord

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SUMMARY:  The Paris Climate Accords was adopted on December 12^th, 2015 , exhibiting an effort of the entire international community to combat the detrimental effects of global climate change. In 2017, President Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the agreement, citing decreased national sovereignty and an effect on American jobs as his reasoning. However, the United States remains one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions and the only country not signed onto the Climate Agreement.. In order to both maintain our standing as an influential global power as well as promote our commitment to preventing climate change, the United States needs to rejoin the Paris Climate Accords.

CONTEXT: In recent years, the issue of climate change has become a pressing threat worldwide. As of 2015 15 out of the 16 hottest years were in the 21^st century (since 1880). In response to the issue, the Paris Climate Accord was negotiated and adopted by the 21^st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on December 12^th 2015. The Agreement included 196 parties, one of which was the United States This agreement exhibited a world-wide commitment to combat climate change, focusing on ending the burning of fossil fuels and keeping the global warming rate to below two degrees Celsius. Although the agreement is not legally binding, each country commits to specific pledges that outline their specific responsibility in limiting climate change. President Obama joined the Paris Climate Accord without the approval of Senate. Specifically,  the United States planned to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2025. Additionally, President Obama pledged three billion dollars to fund efforts to reduce emissions in developing countries. On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States was going to be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. As reasoning for his decision, President Trump argued that the Paris Climate Accord threatened the United States economy and sovereignty, costing America 2.7 million jobs by 2025. In a previous statement, however, President Obama had claimed that the Paris agreement had been the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history. Trump’s move to withdraw from the Agreement will not officially go into effect until November 4, 2020; thus, the decision could still be overturned.

ALTERNATIVE: In this situation, the United States can take one of two routes—either remain withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement, or rejoin it. If the United States does not rejoin the Agreement, it poses serious threats not just to the progression of climate change, but also to our standing and legitimacy as an influential world power. The only logical option for the United States at this point is to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.

MAIN ARGUMENT: The reasons for the United States rejoining the Paris Climate Accords far overpower those for remaining withdrawn. Currently, the United States remains the only nation not signed into the agreement. Previously, Syria and Nicaragua had not joined the Agreement; however, they both joined in direct response to Trump’s announcement of United States withdrawal. With the United States serving as such an influential global power, not participating in this Agreement severely harms our legitimacy—especially in terms of environmental issues. President Trump has stated that he would consider rejoining if a better deal was brought to America by Europe; however, this statement does not promote the type of multilateral diplomacy that our nation has endorsed in the past. It is not the role of Europe to promote American interests—if the United States desires a certain change, we should work in conjunction with other participating nations while maintaining our membership in the Agreement. Currently, the United States accounts for about 1/5^th of global greenhouse gas emissions. If the United States does not rejoin the Paris Accords, it is estimated that the world will warm an additional 0.3 degrees Celsius by 2100 as a direct result. Even if the United States is no longer satisfied with our initial pledges in joining the Agreement, the UNFCC meets with the government every five years to reevaluate goals, tracking the long term process of climate change through an extremely transparent and accountable system. Overall, climate change is a serious issue that the United States should prioritize, but cannot do so unless we rejoin the Paris Climate Accords.  

CONCLUSION: Overall, it is vital for the United States to rejoin the rest of the international community in the Paris Climate Accords. Although President Trump should not have withdrawn from the Agreement in the first place, it is not too late for him to rescind his decision or for a future administration to overturn it. Every other member of the international community has pledged their commitment to combat climate change; however, without the commitment of the United States—one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions—the goals of the Paris Accords will not be possible.