UN Chief Receives Paris Agreement Withdrawal Notice From Washington, France Says ‘Regrets’ US

5 Nov., Kathmandu : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday received a formal notice from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his country’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

“The United States of America notified the secretary-general, in his capacity as depositary, its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement of Dec. 12, 2015, on Nov. 4, 2019,” said Guterres’ spokesperson. In accordance with the provisions of the agreement, the United States could withdraw from it as from Nov. 4, 2019, by giving written notification to the UN secretary-general, said the unnamed spokesperson in a note to correspondents.

The United States signed the Paris Agreement on April 22, 2016, and expressed its consent to be bound by the agreement by acceptance on Sept. 3, 2016, said the note. “Pursuant to Article 28, paragraph 2, of the Paris Agreement, the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement shall take effect upon expiry of one year from the date on which you receive this notification of withdrawal,” the note quoted Pompeo’s letter as reading. Guterres’ spokesperson confirmed in the note to correspondents that the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement will take effect on Nov. 4, 2020.

France says ‘regrets’ US pullout from Paris climate pact

France on Tuesday lamented the US decision to formally notify the United Nations that it was withdrawing from the Paris climate accord. While the move was expected, “we regret this and it makes the Franco-Chinese partnership on climate and biodiversity even more necessary”, the French presidency said as President Emmanuel Macron was on an official trip to China.

Macron and President Xi Jinping will sign a joint document on climate during talks in Beijing on Wednesday that will declare the “irreversibility of the Paris accord”, the French presidency said. President Donald Trump went ahead with the pullout despite mounting evidence of the reality and impact of climate change, with September the fourth month in the row with near- or record-breaking temperatures.

The United States presented its withdrawal letter to the United Nations on the first possible date under the accord negotiated by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama. It will be officially out of the Paris accord on November 4, 2020, one day after the US election in which Trump is seeking a second term. Announcing the move, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated Trump’s remarks in 2017 that the agreement imposed an “unfair economic burden” on the United States. (Xinhua/AFP/RSS)