The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
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The Paris Climate Agreement: What You
Need to Know
President Biden?s decision to return to the climate pact fulfills a
campaign pledge, but the United States has some catching up to do.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/climate/biden-paris-climate-agreement.html[6/14/2021 1:57:44 PM]
The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
President Biden signed 17 executive orders on his first day in the Oval Office on
Wednesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times
By Jonathan Ellis and Douglas Alteen
Jan. 21, 2021
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The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
President Biden has recommitted the United States
to the Paris climate
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agreement, the international accord designed to avert catastrophic global
warming.
The move by Mr. Biden fulfills a campaign promise to return to the pact on
day one of his presidency. A letter to the United Nations signed by the
president on Wednesday formally started the 30-day process of bringing
the United States back into the accord.
What does the decision mean? We have extensive coverage here at The
New York Times, but it is a complex issue and you may be wondering
where to start.
First, here?s the back story of the Paris accord
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The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
The Arc de Triomphe was illuminated with ?The Paris agreement is done? to celebrate the
first day of the application of the Paris climate accord in November 2016. Patrick
Kovarik/Agence France-Presse ? Getty Images
In December 2015, nearly every country in the world, 195 in all, agreed to
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/climate/biden-paris-climate-agreement.html[6/14/2021 1:57:44 PM]
The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
the first global pact aimed at reducing emissions of planet-warming
greenhouse gases. It was a landmark diplomatic achievement and the
pinnacle of President Barack Obama?s environmental agenda.
Scientific studies show that if the world?s carbon emissions continue
unchecked, atmospheric temperatures will continue to rise. The planet
won?t just be hotter, but it will also suffer from rising sea levels, more
powerful storms, droughts that lead to food shortages and other severe
disruptions.
The idea of the Paris climate accord was that every country, rich and poor,
would set goals to curb carbon emissions in an effort to avert the worst
effects of climate change.
Cooling off with sprinklers at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York, in July
2016. In recent years, the record for hottest summer has been successively broken. Alex
Wroblewski/The New York Times
Our article from when the agreement was reached in 2015 is a good
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The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
overview of the agreement and what?s at stake.
Need some convincing on global warming? Well, 2020 tied the record for
hottest year on record, and all of the six previous years were among the
hottest ever.
This interactive globe shows where the heat was felt the most.
Trump pulled out of the accord
Editors? Picks
Former President Donald J. Trump announced in June 2017 that the United States would
leave the Paris climate accord. Doug Mills/The New York Times
Former President Donald J. Trump has called ADVERTISEMENT
climate change a hoax, and
he pledged during his campaign in 2016 to ?cancel? the Paris deal.
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The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
Phexxi Do?
Early in his presidency, Mr. Trump made clear his belief that joint global
action on climate change was incompatible with his ?America first?
message. He also predicted that the Paris Agreement would be harmful to
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the economy. Environmental advocates disputed the argument that the
Paris accord would cost jobs.
Mr. Trump announced on June 1, 2017, that the United States would
withdraw from the agreement. He cited some dubious data in his speech.
Under the terms of the agreement, the United States could not formally exit
until Nov. 4, 2020. That happened to be the day after the presidential
election, a time frame that guaranteed the agreement would be a 2020
campaign issue.
Cities, states, universities and businesses tried to fill the void left by Mr.
Trump?s withdrawal.
The Paris withdrawal wasn?t Mr. Trump?s only environmental rollback.
We?ve been tracking more than 100 of them.
History?s biggest carbon polluter returns
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The Paris Climate Agreement: What You Need to Know – The New York Times
A coal-fired power plant in Ghent, Ky. Some said that it was a moral imperative for the United
States to stay in the pact. Luke Sharrett for The New York Times
While Americans make up just over 4 percent of the world?s population,
they are responsible for almost a third of the excess carbon dioxide in the
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Other nations pressed ahead with their Paris commitments despite the
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