Donald Trump’s comments that he would renegotiate the Paris Agreement on climate change would set American leadership and foreign policy goals back years, environmentalists argued Wednesday.
John Coequyt, the Sierra Club’s director of international climate campaigns, said Trump showed how little he understands foreign policy when he told Reuters he is “not a fan” of the climate change agreement among 196 countries. Trump indicated he would, at a minimum, renegotiate the deal and possibly even leave it completely.
Coequyt said Trump hadn’t done his homework: The U.S. cannot leave the deal for four years after ratifying it, which is expected to happen later this year. In addition, backing out of the deal would hurt the United States’ ability to work on other foreign policy goals by backing away from a top-level diplomatic issue.
“Trump needs to hit the books,” Coequyt said. “Like so many other issues, Trump seems to be fundamentally reckless and has a lack of understanding about this agreement, as he does with many other issues.”
The pact among 196 countries allows each of them, voluntarily, to set emissions reductions targets that will be reviewed every five years starting in 2023. The United States has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 26-28 percent over 2005 levels by 2030.
The agreement seeks to hold global temperature rise “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, with an eye toward keeping it below 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
Each country came up with its own plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientists blame for driving manmade climate change. But the commitments are not legally binding, and critics say the deal lacks teeth.
The Paris Agreement also contains commitments from rich countries to send money to poorer countries for them to develop more clean energy sources. Those financial commitments are also not legally binding.
Holly Shulman, a spokeswoman at the Sierra Club, said the Paris Agreement is a good deal for the United States and Trump’s comments show what could happen if a “climate denier” came into the White House. Trump would be the most prominent, if not the only, climate change-doubting world leader if elected.
“Trump is proposing a way to negotiate away American leadership,” she said. “What he says is unrealistic, it’s unthinkable and it would do irreparable damage to our role in the world.”
