IETA made the following statement about the fact that the US has announced to withdraw itself from the Paris Agreement. We at Climate Neutral Group support this statement.
STATEMENT IETA:
Genève, 2017, June 1st
As was widely reported, President Donald Trump announced plans today for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. We issued a press statement, noting our disappointment and reiterating our intention to continue to work with US states, sub national authorities and nations interested in advancing market based solutions to climate change.
This decision was not a surprise. Trump made a pledge during the election campaign to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Many Paris supporters urged him to reconsider – from US corporate CEOs to heads of state to the Pope and other religious leaders. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other cabinet colleagues urged him to remain in the agreement, but EPA Chief Scott Pruitt and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon reportedly pushed for exiting the agreement. Trump said that he decided to withdraw out of concern for the US economy.
We have seen strong reactions from many world leaders. It will take some time to understand all of the ramifications of the exit, both technical and political. We wanted to offer our initial thoughts about potential impacts, since you are probably gathering your own thoughts and reactions.
- Obviously, this is a big disappointment, because it weakens the strong show of unity around the Paris Agreement. But, as a consequence, we expect many other countries – and companies— to quickly rally around the Paris Agreement. The G7 statement last week was encouraging, as is the announcement expected tomorrow from the EU and China on enhanced cooperation on climate change.
- Given past experiences with the US withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, we expect California and the northeast RGGI states to enhance their own carbon market and climate policy agendas. Other states, from Virginia and Pennsylvania to Washington and Oregon, could become more ambitious on carbon pricing, given the void of federal leadership.
- Pressure from investor groups on US corporations will intensify. The climate risk shareholder resolutions at Exxon and Chevron this week are one example.
- We received several press inquiries (CNBC, CNN, Reuters, among others) about the possible trade sanctions that could be triggered by Trump’s decision. We emphasised that we believe in cooperation on climate change through markets, highlighting in particular Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. We also said that interest in border taxes or other trade restrictions could be reignited, but that it is a complicated subject – and could escalate in a harmful way. We urged calm and caution.
We will be tracking developments closely in the coming weeks, and we will do our best to keep you informed. We know this is a difficult development, but we encourage all IETA members to continue to speak out for market-based solutions for climate change and to encourage our colleagues in the US to forge ahead. A better day will come.
