President Donald Trump met with foreign leaders at the G-7 last week to discuss a wide range of topics but there was one issue where he left them guessing: the Paris Accord. He offered to consider their advice, but left the meeting without signing a joint statement that expressed support for the Paris agreement on climate change.
“I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!” the president tweeted after the meeting.
On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised to withdraw from the nonbinding agreement with 195 other nations, but some of his advisors - including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson - have urged him to reconsider.
On Tuesday, Trump sought advice from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has previously been highly critical of the climate accord.
During a Tuesday briefing with reporters, White House Spokesperson Sean Spicer explained that this is a subject that the president is spending a great deal of time on.
“Ultimately, he wants a fair deal for the American people,” Spicer said.
The Paris Accord aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping 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.
The agreement requires all participating nations who have signed on to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead. This nonbinding agreement also requires all parties to report on their emissions and on their implementation efforts. (Further information on key aspects of the agreement can be found here.)
Former President Barack Obama promised that the United States would reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent.
One option for Trump might be to keep the United States as a participant in the accord, but at a lower rate of promised reduction.
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