Donald Trump’s victory a slap in the face for the climate

Donald Trump’s victory a slap in the face for the climate

ENVIRONMENT

Climate work in the United States may slow down with Donald Trump as the new president. Archive image.

After Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, many worry about a setback for climate work, not only in the United States but also globally.
– It’s a slap in the face for the Paris Agreement, says climate expert Björn-Ola Linnér.

It is less than a week until the UN climate summit COP29 starts in Baku, Azerbaijan. That the world’s largest oil producer and second largest emitter of carbon dioxide then elects a president who is skeptical of the effect of climate change throws gravel into the machinery.

– If you listen to what he says, he means that the climate issue does not exist, or if it does, it is in any case not serious, says Markku Rummukainen, professor at Lund University.

The climate issue has not been big during the US presidential election campaign, but Donald Trump has promised that he will once again withdraw the US from the global Paris Agreement, which is an important tool for reducing emissions in the world.

”Drill, baby, drill”

He has also promised to increase the extraction of fossil fuels in the US under his campaign slogan “drill, baby, drill”. And he wants to stop the IRA, which is a huge aid package for the green transition that President Joe Biden has pushed through.

– We’ll see what happens from that. There are Republicans who don’t want to remove the subsidies and the industry doesn’t want it either, says Björn-Ola Linnér, professor at Linköping University.

The last time Donald Trump was elected president, he also took the United States out of the Paris Agreement, although it did not come into force until the end of his presidency. The fact that the US left had a clear slowing effect on climate work.

– Bearing in mind that the USA is still a large emission country and also resource-rich, it is important what they do nationally and internationally, and without the USA the global work is of course weakened, says Markku Rummukainen.

Big break

The Paris Agreement also regulates financing for poor countries’ ability to make emission reductions and climate adaptations against floods, droughts and heat waves. It is a key issue for the climate meeting in Baku, and it will of course be interrupted if the US no longer contributes.

But while there was a slowdown when the US left the Paris Agreement last time, it wasn’t all doom and gloom.

– There are other forces that affect climate change – states, cities and companies will continue to push, says Björn-Ola Linnér.

– Not everything is influenced by a president in the United States.

FACT

The Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement is a global climate agreement that the world’s countries agreed on in December 2015. It formally entered into force in November 2016.

According to the agreement, global warming must be kept well below 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels, with the ambition to limit it to 1.5 degrees. This must primarily be done through reduced emissions of greenhouse gases.

The parties to the agreement must gradually tighten their commitments and renew or update these every five years. This is done in national climate plans (NDC). COP26 in Glasgow was the first climate meeting after Paris where countries were expected to do this. Next year, new NDCs must be submitted.

Part of the agreement is about increasing the ability to adapt to negative effects and manage damages and losses that occur as a result of climate change.

A basic idea in the agreement is that the countries with the best conditions should take the lead and that industrialized countries should provide support to developing countries. This must be done through climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building.

The countries have until the climate summit in 2025 to update their climate promises.

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Source: www.nyteknik.se