The U.S. is now the only country not part of Paris climate agreement after Syria signs on
The United States is now the only country on Earth that’s declined to be a part of the Paris climate agreement, after Syria announced Tuesday it would join the landmark 2015 pact.
In an address to delegates at a global climate meeting in Bonn, Germany, Syria’s deputy minister of local administration and environment, M. Wadah Katmawi, said his country would join the Paris deal “as soon as possible.”
The Paris agreement aims to combat global warming by gradually reducing emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which come from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. President Trump announced in June that the U.S. would withdraw from the deal.
“Syria’s announcement that it will join the Paris agreement leaves President Trump in not-so-splendid isolation as a result of his irresponsible and ignorant decision to withdraw the United States from the most comprehensive effort ever to confront the mounting climate crisis,” said Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
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People walk past the “Climate Planet,” an exhibition and film venue sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, near the plenary halls of the COP 23 United Nations Climate Change Conference. (Photo: Sean Gallup, Getty Images)