US exit from Paris pact can help energy shift

US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement on June 1, raising concerns across the globe. But his decision was not unexpected, because the Republican Party was opposed to the Paris climate pact from the beginning, and during his presidential campaign Trump had criticized the global agreement.

And since the US' withdrawal might not affect the agreement as much as some fear - since its enforcement is flexible - we should not overreact to Trump's decision. Of real importance is the fact that the US Congress ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, which actually has a binding force. As a party to the convention, the US is legally bound to send representatives to participate in the UN climate change conferences every year.

Besides, the US federal government cannot prevent its states from taking part in the global fight against climate change, and those states can play a more constructive role in intensifying the fight.