What will Trump's presidency mean for the historic Paris agreement?
The now President-elect Donald Trump claimed throughout his campaign that he vehemently opposed the United States' involvement in the United Nations climate pact, otherwise known as the Paris agreement.
The U.S. signed the historic agreement in April, promising to work with more than 100 other countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate change and mitigate the rising global temperature.
Trump has called climate change a "hoax" and has denounced the historic agreement, which went into effect on Nov. 4.
"This agreement gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use right now in America... We're going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs," Trump said in an energy speech on May 26, 2016.
Experts claim that America's role in the agreement is critical for long-term health of the planet.
By not complying, the shared goal of significantly reducing global emissions could be much harder to achieve.
In September, 376 members of the National Academy of Sciences published an open letter urging the Republican nominee to backtrack from his comments.
"Such a decision would make it far more difficult to develop effective global strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change," they wrote.
"The consequences of opting out of the global community would be severe and long-lasting – for our planet's climate and for the international credibility of the United States."
If Trump sticks to his word when he takes office in 2017, there will be several ways he can pull the U.S. out of the agreement, according to ClimateCentral.org.
Scenario one: Non-compliance
As Trump has said he would abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, it is fathomable that under his leadership the U.S. will halt work toward clean energy.
Scenario two: Long-term withdrawal
A country has to wait three years after formally signing the agreement before they can file withdrawal paperwork. After an additional one-year wait, that country would be excluded from the agreement.
Trump would have to wait until the end of his first term to take this action.
Scenario three: Short-term withdrawal
If Trump pulls out of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), he would then have the go-ahead to withdraw from the Paris agreement after one year.
As the 1992 agreement is an international treaty, the president does not have to consult with the Senate before withdrawing.
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