Donald Trump says the US will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement

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US President Donald Trump has said he will pull the US out of the historic Paris climate accord, dealing a blow to global efforts to slow global warming after the hottest year on record.

The decision was announced Monday in a flurry of fossil fuel policies after Trump took the oath of office vowing to “drill, baby, drill” in pursuit of what he called “American energy dominance.”

“The president will unleash American energy by ending Biden’s policies of climate extremism,” the White House said.

The US withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries, means the world’s biggest historic polluter will once again renege on its commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Rachel Cleetus, policy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the US withdrawal was “a travesty” and “clearly defies scientific reality”.

The new administration also said it would declare an “energy emergency” as it touted measures to reduce regulations on oil and gas companies and rein in clean energy construction.

Trump said: “We will lower prices, refill our strategic reserves, to the top, and export American energy around the world. We will be a rich nation again — and that liquid gold under our feet will help make that happen.”

Trump has hinted that he will scrap the role of national climate adviser, introduced by Biden, and replace it with an “energy czar” tasked with cutting red tape for oil and gas producers. Former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum will take over that role.

Last year was the first calendar year in which average temperatures exceeded the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming from pre-industrial times to well below 2C, and preferably to 1.5C.

The world is on the way to temperature rise to 2.9C above pre-industrial levels, according to a UN report.

The US is the only country to leave the Paris Agreement – under the first Trump administration in 2017, in a process that took more than two years. But he rejoined under Biden in February 2021. Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, also threatened to step down but did not.

The head of the UN climate change department overseeing the Paris Agreement, Simon Stiell, said on Monday: “The door remains open . . . and we welcome the constructive engagement of all countries.”

The White House said Monday it would also take steps to “end the leasing of large wind farms” that it said are “degrading our natural landscapes and not serving America’s energy consumers.”

Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the Paris Agreement, said the US decision to leave was “unfortunate” but the agreement was “stronger than the politics and policies of any individual country”.

Some experts say Trump’s moves to reverse Biden’s “green” policies would favor China, which is the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles, solar panels and batteries.

“China will happily wave one of its world-leading electric vehicles in the rearview mirror while American manufacturers limp along,” said Tim Sahay, co-director of Johns Hopkins University’s Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab.

The Biden administration raised the bar on U.S. climate goals in its final month in office, setting a goal to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gases by 61 percent to 66 percent by 2035 from 2005 levels.

At the latest UN climate summit in Baku, Biden’s top climate adviser John Podesta acknowledged that US efforts to combat global warming “could be put on the back burner” under a Trump White House, but tried to reassure US allies that this will not stop the transition to green energy and technologies by businesses, states, cities and local governments.