US is the only objector at Bonn climate talks

The US is the only country in the world that is not part of the Paris agreement, but at the international climate talks in Bonn, it continues telling other nations what to do.

A protester dressed as a polar bear attends a demonstration under the banner "Protect the climate - stop coal" two days before the start of the COP 23 UN Climate Change Conference hosted by Fiji but held in Bonn, Germany on November 4, 2017.
Reuters

A protester dressed as a polar bear attends a demonstration under the banner "Protect the climate - stop coal" two days before the start of the COP 23 UN Climate Change Conference hosted by Fiji but held in Bonn, Germany on November 4, 2017.

The United States government is becoming increasingly isolated on climate change.

After Syria announced on Tuesday that it intended to join the 2015 Paris agreement for slowing climate change, the US became the only country in the world opposed to the pact.

President Donald Trump officially announced his country's withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate pact where nations set their own goals to reduce the emissions of heat-trapping gases, but because of legal technicalities, the US can’t get out until November 2020.

Trump, who doubts mainstream scientific findings that global warming is primarily caused by man-made greenhouse gases, said in June he will promote the US coal and oil industries.

But scientists warn that if the US remains out of the Paris accord and tries to dismantle former US president Barack Obama’s initiatives to curb emissions, the Earth will warm by an additional one or two tenths of a degree.

And it will have dramatic impacts on ecosystems and even day-to-day life for people.

All of these new developments throw Trump's actions on the issue into further doubt.

TRT World's Ediz Tiyansan is in the New England region of the US to see how climate change is taking its toll on local communities and their livelihoods.

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Opposition on climate talks :  'we're still in'

Despite plans by Trump to pull out, a coalition of US cities, companies and other groups said on Thursday that they will remain committed to the 2015 Paris climate agreement 

The “we are still in” coalition opened a 2,500-square metre tent pavilion outside a venue in Bonn, Germany, where delegates from almost 200 nations are working on details of the pact aimed at ending the fossil fuel era by 2100.

The coalition aims to show delegates from other nations at the November 6-17 UN talks that many Americans are working to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Reuters

A woman enters a giant tent, setup by US groups opposed to US President Donald Trump, on the sidelines of the UN climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany on November 9, 2017.

It says its signatories represent more than 130 million Americans and $6.2 trillion of annual economic output.

By contrast, the US government delegation office at the talks covers only 100 square meters.

And they will be telling other nations what they should do on an agreement that the president wants no part of.

“It’s like having a guest at a dinner party who complains about the food but stays anyway,” said Nigel Purvis, who worked climate issues in the State Department for former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush.

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