The Trump administration notified the United Nations Friday that the U.S. intends to officially withdraw from the Paris climate accord, the Department of State announced.
Following the procedure laid out in the agreement, the United States will withdraw “as soon as it is eligible to do so.”
The earliest the U.S. can begin officially withdrawing from the accord is Nov. 4, 2019, under the terms of the Paris agreement. The notice to the UN is largely ceremonial, and the earliest a full withdrawal can be finalized is November 2020, one year after official proceedings have begun, The Hill reports.
President Donald Trump announced he would pull the country out of the agreement in a June 1 speech in the Rose Garden. Trump claimed the accord was “less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States.” (RELATED: TRUMP: Paris Accord Is A Plan To ‘Redistribute Wealth Out Of The US’)
The president is open to reentering the Paris agreement “if the United States can identify terms that are more favorable to it, its businesses, its workers, its people, and its taxpayers,” the State Department said.
Former President Barack Obama joined into the Paris climate accord in 2016, promising to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emission and donate $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), created as a means for developed countries to subsidize green energy projects in poorer countries. Obama put $1 billion in the fund before Trump took office.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump said in his speech in the Rose Garden.
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