Trump pulls US out of Paris
In a widely-anticipated and predicted announcement, US President Donald Trump confirmed he will withdraw the United
States from the Paris climate agreement.
Speaking from the Rose Garden on Friday morning NZ time, Trump said he would withdraw the US from the climate accord, but begin negotiations to re-enter either the accord or another agreement under "terms
that are fair to the United States".
A joint statement from Italy, France and Germany shortly after his speech said the countries believed the treaty could not be renegotiated.
In a rare statement since leaving office, former president Barack Obama said the new administration had joined "a small handful of nations that reject the future".
Internationally, climate scientists and political scientists have condemned the decision.
University of Canterbury political scientist Associate Professor Bronwyn Hayward said it felt "surreal" to listen to Trump's announcement while she packed to leave for an IPCC meeting in Paris.
Dr Hayward is a lead author on the special report for the IPCC on limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial
levels.
"I was simply shocked to hear Trump describe a 2 degrees climate rise as 'tiny, tiny' amount because a global rise of 2
degrees translates to much higher local temperature changes and changes beyond 2 degrees risks dangerous climate
events," she said.
Victoria University of Wellington climate scientist Professor James Renwick said while the decision was a backward step,
"it's hardly game over for the Agreement or for climate change".
"The US could stay in and do nothing, which would be as unhelpful as pulling out."
Writing on The Spinoff, Prof Renwick said he hoped next week's visit from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would include a clear message
from NZ leaders that the abandonment of the agreement was a "grave failure of US leadership on the international stage".
Dr Adrian Macey, from VuW's Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, said there was already a global shift towards
renewable energy "quite independent of any international agreements".
Other countries were already signalling that a US withdrawal wouldn't lessen their commitment, he said, and powerful
states like California would continue their climate change policies.
"So...unfortunate, and a setback but no need to despair."
The SMC gathered expert reaction on Trump's decision.