Joe Biden's inauguration: US rejoins the Paris Climate Agreement

21 January 2021
Joe Biden's inauguration: US rejoins the Paris Climate Agreement

On November 20th of 2021, a few hours after his inauguration, recently elected President Joe Biden issued 17 executive orders, moving faster than any other modern president to dismantle the decisions made by his predecessor. One of these executive orders by Joe Biden concerns the return of the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement, which will enter into force on the thirtieth day according to the Paris Agreement itself.


On November 4th of 2019, former President of the United States of America Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.

According to Donald Trump, the Paris Agreement creates unfavourable economic conditions for the United States. Analysts attributed this position to his policy of supporting the extraction and processing of shale gas. "The Paris Agreement introduces unnecessary restrictions that would lead to the bankruptcy of American companies, while foreign manufacturers continue to pollute the atmosphere with impunity," Trump reiterated his position at an oil and gas conference in Pittsburgh in October 2019.

The Paris Climate Agreement has been valid for the United States for a year from the date of the notice of withdrawal. Undoubtedly, this decision seriously affected the plan for developed countries to support climate action in developing countries. At that time, critics of Trump's decision argued that withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement would harm the United States not only in terms of the climate, but the country would also lag behind the world in "clean" technologies, receive less investment in renewable energy, and further lose the credibility of the world leader and access to world markets.

Thus, much depended on the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election.

Immediately after his inauguration, President Joe Biden returned the United States to the Paris Climate Agreement - a global pact on carbon reduction, climate change adaptation and climate finance - reversing another decision by former US President Donald Trump.

The US President has pledged to make the fight against climate change a top priority for his administration. His decision to return the United States to the Paris Agreement is not just a symbolic move. He also made another decision, for which the ecologists of North America fought for more than 10 years. US President-elect Joe Biden cancelled the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project on his first day in the office. The pipeline was supposed to transport oil nearly 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from the Canadian province of Alberta to Nebraska, USA, to join the existing pipeline. This was fraught with enormous environmental consequences.

Stay tuned for further updates.

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