What will be the effect of the election of Donald J Trump to the US Presidency on the battle to control climate change? The following comments appeared on the day the election results were announced 9 November 2016.

New York Times

Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied the science of human-caused climate change…saying it was a hoax created by the Chinese. He has said that he will do everything in his power to undo Mr. Obama’s ambitious domestic and international climate change policies…

Mr. Trump has vowed to “cancel” the Paris Agreement, the 2015 deal in which nearly every country put forth plans to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. In fact, it is not possible for a world leader to unilaterally block or undo the accord, nor would it be possible for the United States to legally withdraw from it for at least the first term of a Trump administration. That is because with Mr. Obama and the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, urging other countries to ratify the accord rapidly, it entered into legal force last week. Any country wishing to withdraw must wait four years to do so.

But even though the United States, the world’s second-largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions, remains legally bound to the Paris plan for four years, there will be no legal consequences or economic sanctions if Mr. Trump does not follow through with the Obama administration’s commitment. Under the accord, Mr. Obama promised that the United States would cut emissions up to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, largely through a set of Environmental Protection Agency regulations on coal-fired power plants…

Beyond Mr. Trump’s remarks challenging the science of climate change, he has taken steps to translate those views into policy. The head of environmental policy on his transition team is Myron Ebell, who directs energy and environment policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, and has gained national prominence for his polarizing skepticism of climate science. Also informing Mr. Trump’s transition team is Michael McKenna, an influential Republican energy lobbyist who has urged Republican lawmakers to deny climate science.

— CORAL DAVENPORT

ABC News

Representatives from 200 countries are at the Marrakech summit finalising the details of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which commits governments to keeping a global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius…

Australia’s Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said it was going to be difficult for him to [remove America from the treaty]. “It’s also important to note that the US climate action has come from the states,” Ms McKenzie said. “California has been driving much of the climate action and support for renewable energy in the US. “As well as [US President Barack] Obama’s work has through regulations — which are very hard to unwind once they’re changed and in place and have impacts on the community. “So it’s very hard for Trump to wind back international or domestic action on climate change…”

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