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Deborah Carfrae CBA NATIONAL MAGAZINE EDITORIAL BOARD CHAIR
Candice Alderson
How Trump Could Dump the Paris Agreement
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A month before the Nov. 8th U.S. election the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law published a document outlining the legal pathways a U.S. President could use to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. There are two major routes. The slower route would be to withdraw from the Paris Agreement itself. Article 28.1 of the Paris Agreement authorizes a country to withdraw from the agreement without reason or justification. The only limitation is timing. Countries would only cease to have emission reduction and reporting obligations four years after the agreement came into force. If President Trump gives notification for withdrawal on the first day of
BARTALK / DECEMBER 2016
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his term, then the withdrawal would only come into force on November 4, 2020. The faster route would be to withdraw from its’ parent agreement, the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC), which only needs a year’s notice to the UN in order to come into force. However, this option requires Senate approval, as the UNFCC was approved by President George H.W. Bush and had the backing of the US Senate. The recent U.S. election gave the Republicans a decided majority in the Senate, so a challenge to withdraw from the UNFCC may not be likely. Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement outside its terms or the UNFCC would violate international law. The U.S. would still be obligated to reduce and report greenhouse gas emissions, though failing to do so carries no repercussions.
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