“Global warming is not our top priority”
Trump’s latest decision regarding the Paris accord acutely dampens global efforts to reverse global warming and the Commission on Science and Technology for Development is deeply concerned.
The US gets approximately 82% of its energy from fossil fuels and produces 14.34% of the world’s CO2 emissions landing second place right after China[2]. Since 2011, America, has been making an effort to use alternative energy sources and reduce its carbon emissions. In his 2009 State of the Union Address, former president Barack Obama reaffirmed his commitment to renewable energy and transferred $1 billion out of an initial $3 billion commitment to the UN Green Climate Fund before leaving office.
Keeping one of the promises he made during his campaign, president Trump has stated that the Paris agreement is “unfair and is punishing the US.” His decision to leave the accord was made public and its currently in progress however the repercussions may be worse than he expected.
During a conference in the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, delegates were discussing the implementation of alternative sources of energy which the American delegates were not willing to take part in. “We are trying to focus on the America first and any investment in renewable energy will take from our budget, money we need for solving domestic issues such as unemployment and education.” Various countries are not very keen to work along with the US to look for solutions to decrease the use of fossil fuels and have been very outspoken when it comes to expressing their concerns on the US leaving the treaty. “We are trying not to force things with countries like Germany, France and Italy. However we are also not trying to avoid it.”
American focus on this conference will be “educating the future generations into being more eco-conscious.” Some countries like Egypt have demonstrated interest in this kind of approach labelling it as innovative and creative. However, the Canadian delegate was profoundly concerned because this policy will have long term impacts and “waiting is something we cannot afford, especially now, when most countries rely on us, bigger economies, to protect the environment.”
[2] "CO2 time series 1990-2015 per region/country". Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency .