President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly looking for avenues to withdraw from a global climate change agreement, Reuters reports.
According to the report, Trump and his transition team are looking for ways withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, a 2015 pact that plans to further curb greenhouse gas emissions that was ratified by 109 countries, including the U.S. The pact became effective on Nov. 4.
“It was reckless for the Paris agreement to enter into force before the election,” a Trump adviser told Reuters.
The Trump team is now looking for ways to bypass the agreement’s withdrawal procedures, which would take four years.
More from Reuters:
Alternatives were to send a letter withdrawing from a 1992 Convention that is the parent treaty of the Paris Agreement, voiding U.S. involvement in both in a year’s time, or to issue a presidential order simply deleting the U.S. signature from the Paris accord, he said.
Still, other nations hold out hope that Trump comes around on the deal. However, if he doesn’t and the U.S. pulls out, a Moroccan official said it wouldn’t kill the deal.
“If one party decides to withdraw that it doesn’t call the agreement into question,” said Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar.
The accord seeks to end the world’s dependency on fuel sources that emit greenhouse gases by the second half of the century, which many climate experts around the world say attribute to rising global temperatures.
Trump has said throughout the election and the past that he doesn’t believe in global warming or made-made climate change.
By Chris Enloe
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