Trump leads world on path toward climate disaster

Climate change is a global emergency that goes beyond national borders. It is an issue that requires international cooperation and coordinated solutions at all levels. As an example of the problems that increasing temperatures are already bringing, the extreme heat this summer is reported to have killed over 50,000 people in Europe alone [1] and delivered the worst wildfires in recorded history [2].

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, countries agreed to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to keep global temperature increase well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and ideally to limit it to 1.5°C [3].

In 2017 during his first term as President of the USA, Donald Trump announced that the United States would cease all participation in the Paris Agreement [4]. This came into effect in 2020. Luckily his appalling decision was reversed in 2021 by President Biden.

In 2026 during his second term, Trump once again withdrew the USA from the Paris Agreement [5]. That still applies. And this is not the only way that Trump is promoting global warming, leading the world towards climate disaster.

For example, we reported in July that Donald Trump has revised regulations under the Endangered Species Act to open habitats of imperiled wildlife to development, logging, mining and other uses. The aim is to make it easier to boost fossil fuel extraction and so “strengthen American energy independence” [6].

Many other countries are following also failing to meet the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions required to meet the 1.5C global target.

As reported by The Guardian [7], the chief executive of the Climate Analytics [8] thinktank, Bill Hare said: “All governments have a job to do, but in particular it is time for major fossil fuel producers such as the US and Saudi Arabia, which produce 20-25% of fossil fuels globally, to stop playing politics and face the scientific reality. Right now they are looking at the fire, denying it exists and pouring more petrol on it, while their own citizens increasingly face searing heat, wildfires and other impacts.”