President Donald Trump wasted no time withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement merely hours after being sworn-in on January 20.

It marks the second time Trump has ordered the US to leave the global climate pact, which obliges signatory countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions as part of the global goal to limit the world’s temperature increase to well below 2°C, while also pursuing efforts to limit the rise to 1.5°C. 

During Trump’s first presidency, he ordered the US to exit the international climate accord in June 2017 stating that remaining in the climate pact would undermine the US economy and put its industry at a disadvantage. President Joe Biden had the US rejoin the agreement in 2021.

In his second effort to take the US out of the climate deal, Trump again reiterated his belief that adhering to the agreement is not fair for the US.  

“I'm immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off," the freshly inaugurated president told a cheering crowd in Washington. "The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” Trump declared.

Trump had indicated for months that leaving the Paris Agreement would be one of his first actions upon return to the White House.

However, the announcement comes at a challenging time for the US with wildfires raging in southern California that have claimed over two dozen lives and destroyed more than 17,000 buildings and burnt more than 40,000 acres, an area bigger than the city of Paris.

Similarly, with 2024 being the hottest year on record and the US also experiencing devastating hurricanes in Florida, North Carolina and Texas in the last six months, Trump’s move to downplay the impacts of climate change have come under heavy criticism by environmental groups.   

While Trump has taken the first actions towards leaving the Paris Agreement, the US’s actual exit from the international climate accord will not come overnight. The Paris Agreement stipulates that the exiting procedures take a full year to complete.