Aggravating Climate Crisis

After having sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump has once again decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. This comes as a means to reinforce his idea of ‘making America great’. However, it is a discouraging move for small, least developed and climatically vulnerable countries like Nepal who are juggling between development and climate change-induced vulnerabilities.

The Paris Agreement is an outcome of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP) held in 2015. A non-binding agreement, it hopes to maintain global temperature within 1.5 degrees Celsius by inspiring countries to make voluntary efforts in this connection. Sadly, 2024 was recognised as the first year when the temperature exceeded this limit, sending a message that global climate crisis is worsening. 

President Trump had previously backed out of this agreement in 2017. Nonetheless, the Biden administration had rejoined the agreement and showed commitment towards the treaty. And now after Trump’s re-exit step, the agreement has become a joke, one where even political parties within the country do not have a constant viewpoint. He plans to boost the country’s oil and gas production and ‘make America richer again’. His ambition doesn’t end here. He hopes to export the oil produced globally and end the efforts made by the Biden administration to promote electric vehicles so as to save the domestic car industry.

These immediate moves are bound to give the country only short bursts of economic growth. Call it a realistic or pessimistic view, our existence depends on the survival of Mother Earth itself. So, Trump’s search for prosperity in this way may bring more destruction than ever imagined. Currently, the wildfires in California and Los Angeles have caused huge damage to people’s properties. The infernos have also claimed some lives of people. Climate change is regarded as one of the most significant factors behind the wildfire disaster.

 Warmer temperatures, changing rainy seasons and extended periods of droughts have contributed to making the environment drier, igniting uncontrollable fires. So, it is an irony that the Trump administration is not concerned about climate change. The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is not good news for the entire world. This step might encourage many other countries worldwide to follow the path of the US. Also, these kinds of unilateral action are bound to negatively affect the small island and Himalayan nations. 

In the case of Nepal, the present government is preparing to conduct Sagarmatha Sambaad, a global dialogue forum focusing on climate change, mountains and the future of humanity. The country has been consistent in its effort to seek climate justice, because after all our greenhouse gas emissions are very meagre, yet we face its brunt the most. So, in a logical way, isn’t it the responsibility of the industrialised and powerful nations to support the smaller and vulnerable ones?

Also, why don’t we look at this whole issue differently? The United States must remember that its support and effort to maintain global temperature within the limit of 1.5 degree Celsius is not an aid for other countries but a means to ensure its own sustainability. So, whatever economic progress President Trump aspires for his country is directly proportional to the sustainability of climate and nature. Such changes in policy regime may have greater repercussions, both domestically and internationally. If this sort of ignorance continues in other parts of the world, we will remain in a state of helplessness.