US' formal exit from Paris Agreement blow to global solidarity on climate change: China Daily editorial

Washington's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement took effect on Wednesday, having given notice on Nov 4, 2019, that it would leave the accord.

It was not easy for the international community to reach the agreement, and the withdrawal of the US, which is the only one of the 197 signatories to have done so, has made it easier for some other countries to weaken their own ambitions and commitments.

For the common good of all, there is enough reason for the US to not only reduce its own emissions but also fulfill its responsibilities as a world leader to rally global action on climate change.

The US accounts for about 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But it produces the highest volume of greenhouse gases when measured on a per capita basis. And considering the greenhouse gases it has emitted during its industrial development in the past several decades, the world's largest and strongest economy owes a huge emissions reduction debt to the world.

But rather than making efforts to pay this debt off, the US has not come close to meeting its goal set at the 2015 Paris climate summit to cut emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025. It has also failed to keep its commitment to double funding for innovation and clean energy research and development by 2021.

Washington has been backpedaling as far as the development of clean energy resources and fossil fuels are concerned. The US leader even denies the science on climate change.

In comparison, China has set the initial goal in the Paris Agreement for its greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2030. And President Xi Jinping announced last month the country's target of carbon neutrality by 2060. China is also investing more money than many other countries in developing low-carbon energy and electric vehicles to replace fossil fuel ones.

It is obvious that Washington is too selfish and shortsighted on the issue of climate change. It has turned a blind eye to the fact that its participation and leadership are essential for the world to make headway in dealing with climate change. It ignores how its withdrawal from the global agreement will seriously affect the global endeavor in this regard.

Joe Biden has proposed a $1.7 trillion plan to take the US to net zero emission by 2050, and he has affirmed that if he is elected president one of the first things his administration will do is apply to rejoin the Paris Agreement. But even so there will still be a lot to be done to make up for the damage its withdrawal has caused the multilateral forum.

Furthermore, can the world trust the United States not to withdraw again?

As Xi said in his speech at the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity in October, countries have a common stake as passengers in the same boat and need to heighten their sense of responsibility and strengthen their actions to tackle the challenge of climate change under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, which form the legal foundation for environmental governance.