Michael Bloomberg Pledges $15M To Help UN With Climate Change

In announcing plans to pull the USA out of the Paris climate accord, President Donald Trump declared that he was “elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris“. You don’t get to do that.

Since most large American companies with long-term business interest in India are supporting the growth of green energy even after President Trump chose to abandon USA commitments to the Paris Agreement, the United States withdrawal from the agreement will have only a negligible impact on the bilateral mechanisms on clean energy. Average temperatures have been rising since the end of World War II and have increased dramatically since the 1980s. Already, the top American diplomat in China has resigned from his post over the decision and now #Hawaii has become the first state to independently pass laws to be in line with the agreement. Every signatory – nations big and small, developing and developed – volunteered to enact an individualized plan to cut their carbon emissions to reduce the harmful effects of climate change.

More than a dozen governors have signed new climate change pledges since Trump made the announcement. The US has 4% of the world’s population which generates 15% of the world’s emission!

Certainly, we at Stoel Rives had many such debates around what this would mean for our practices, and most importantly, our clients. So there is not much anxiety associated with reducing fossil fuels immediately. Now there is another angle that they could take, which is to withdraw from the United Nations Global Climate Change Agreement Treaty if you will that they agreed to in 1992.

Unanimously adopted by almost 200 countries in 2015, the Paris agreement was a historic step forward in the fight against climate change. The President of the United States wants to level the field in terms of obligation with India and China, even as the GDP per capita between the three nations is far from equal. “And any people, seeking such shelter for themselves, can now build only their own prison”. All have vowed to step up to the plate to implement the Paris Agreement even if their President does not.

“This is a repudiation of 45 years of steady improvement in the enforcement and rigor of laws to protect the environment in the US”, said William K. Reilly, who led the EPA under President George H.W. Bush and is chairman emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund.

California has also been at the forefront.

“They are talking in terms of shared risks now”, said Clare Shakya, climate change group director at the International Institute for Environment and Development.

“I am departing presidential councils”. To summarize a Rolling Stone article, Coal is dead like disco!

Looking at the potential impact from an industry perspective, the renewable energy industry is largely driven by state standards and regulation. Indeed, Big oil firms like BP and Shell are strongly investing in renewables.

“Americans are not walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement”.

Ben Houlton, a professor of land, air and water resources, and director of the John Muir Institute of the Environment, calling the withdrawal “deeply disappointing”, said UCD would “continue to work with local governments, businesses, citizens and agencies to solve the climate challenge and create a higher quality of life for all people on the only planet we have”. Remaining ensures we can maintain our status in the world, which in turn allows our economy to grow and diversify.

Closer to home, What’s in store for Singapore?

This echoes a common political talking point: that fighting climate change is bad for the economy.