The New York Times termed the US exit from the Paris accord as disgraceful. In its editorial, the paper said: “Only future generations will be able to calculate the full consequences of President [Donald] Trump’s incredibly shortsighted approach to climate change, since it is they who will suffer the rising seas and crippling droughts that scientists say are inevitable unless the world brings fossil fuel emissions to heel.
“Trump justified his decision by saying that the Paris agreement was a bad deal for the United States, buttressing his argument with a cornucopia of dystopian, dishonest and discredited data based on numbers from industry-friendly sources. Those numbers are nonsense, as is his argument that the agreement would force the country to make enormous economic sacrifices and cause a huge redistribution of jobs and economic resources to the rest of the world. In truth, the agreement does not require any country to do anything.”
The Guardian said the accord will survive Trump’s decision, which was not a surprise, but still is a shock to the deal.
In an editorial, the British paper said: “It is another indication of US readiness to abandon global leadership, and it is a gift to China, ambitious to be seen as a mature and reliable global player, and already a world leader in renewable energy technology. There will not be immediate consequences for the planet, but the time available for effective action is already perilously short; even the threat of a backward step by the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases could carry serious consequences.”
The paper added that the US withdrawal will not destroy it. “There is still a chance that the US will not, in the end, withdraw. The agreement’s built-in time delay means it cannot happen until the next presidential election year, 2020.”
The South China Morning Post said that in the wake of Trump’s decision, the world now counts on the leadership of China, Germany and others committed to fighting climate change to steer the way forward.
The Hong Kong-based newspaper in an editorial said: “Along with the EU, Beijing now has a leadership role in helping ensure the world brings down temperatures to avoid rising seas and severe weather conditions. It will not be an easy task given that the US is the second-biggest polluter. But there is hope, as there are many Americans who reject their president’s short-sighted approach and have already embraced environmentally responsible thinking.”
The Sydney Morning Herald said a Paris accord without America will set back global efforts to limit temperature rises and could inflame leadership tensions in the Turnbull government.
In an editorial, the Australian paper said: “For Australia, a US withdrawal threatens to give succour to the minority within the coalition who either deny the climate science or believe, like Trump and his closest advisers do, that the economic and competitive cost of action to reduce emissions is too great.”
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