U.S. President Donald Trump holds a letter to the United Nations announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump’s pledge to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord for a second time creates a leadership vacuum that other countries can benefit from, according to the United Nations’ top climate official.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday to withdraw the US from the world’s largest coordinated effort to tackle rising temperatures. He also announced a “national energy emergency” to roll back many Biden-era environmental regulations and pledged to increase fossil fuel production.
The widely expected order to withdraw from the Paris climate accord follows a similar move by the first Trump administration in 2017 and deals a major blow to global efforts to protect the environment.
The 2015 Paris Agreement is a framework designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to “well below 2, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels” in the long term.
“We’ve been here before,” United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said during a CNBC-moderated panel at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
A key difference between Trump’s 2017 decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and Monday’s executive order, Stiell said, was the “significant moment” to combat global warming in the intervening eight years.
“The world is going through an energy transition that is unstoppable. Last year alone, over $2 trillion was invested in the transition, and that’s compared to $1 trillion in fossil fuels, so the signal is absolutely clear,” Stiell said.
“Anyone who pulls back from this important moment forward creates a void that others will fill and take advantage of. So I think that’s the context of the framework we’re in 14 hours after that statement,” he added.
Seagulls fly in front of the Esther offshore oil and gas platform on January 5, 2025 in Seal Beach, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Climate scientists condemned Trump’s order to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, noting that the pledge comes just weeks after US and global science agencies confirmed that the planet experienced its hottest year in 2024.
Trump, who has called the climate crisis “one of the great hoaxes,” said Monday that he aimed to increase oil and gas production during his second four-year term.
“We’re going to drill, baby, drill,” Trump said in his inaugural address. He also vowed that the US will usher in a new era of oil and gas exploration.
‘Time to talk less about it’
European insurance giants played down the immediate impact of Trump’s climate withdrawal.
“It’s harder, but the gentleman has done it before, and the world knows it needs to get better,” Oliver Bate, CEO of Allianz, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” in Davos on Tuesday.
“We’ve reached planetary limits, everyone knows that. Maybe it’s time to talk less about it, but do more. At least that’s what we’re trying to do in our industry,” he added.
Zurich Insurance CEO Mario Greco dismissed the notion that Trump’s push to withdraw from the Paris climate accord amounts to a major political event.
“I think we have to admit that the Paris Agreement has not achieved any of the plans, the ambitions, the objectives that were expected,” Greco said on Tuesday.
“It’s also true that we’re looking for other means to achieve the much-needed reduction in temperature. I mean, technology has to help. Without technology, we’re not going to make this planet any colder than it is today.” or will be soon, so no, I don’t think that’s the big deal,” he added.
