The world is reeling from the decision by the US President Donald Trump to pull his country out of the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change. While this decision has been looming given his threats to do so during the election campaigns, what the world is now coming to grips with is how to maintain the momentum to effectively address climate change, one of the most pressing challenges of this century. The US will join Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries not to have adopted the Paris Agreement (Nicaragua only refused to sign the Accord because it believes it does not go far enough)..
The greatest concern has been that the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement would cause a domino effect and encourage other countries to follow suit and either withdraw from the Paris Agreement or water down their pledged commitments to climate action.