World Day against Climate Changes

One of the major developments which have drawn the attention of scientific and political circles of the world for the past two decades is the issue of global warming and climate change resulting from human activities.

Based on the last report of the World Economic Forum in January 2016, lack of tackling climate changes can have more destructive consequences as compared to those of the weapons of mass destruction and water crisis. If the present trend continues, by 2080 half of plant species and more than one thirds of animal species may no longer exist. It is a worrying fact that threatens the future of humanity. In view of the importance of this issue, the UN has named October 24 as the World Day against Climate Changes in order to remind the unpleasant consequences of climate changes, and further draw the attention of world bodies to this problem. 

According to scientists, climate changes stem from human activities. For the past two decades, industrial activities and the excessive consumption of fossil fuels by human societies have increasingly damaged natural resources and have led to an increase in emissions of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon dioxide. These gases act as a greenhouse when exposed to sunlight and increase the temperature of the earth or the atmosphere adjacent to the surface of the earth. Such a phenomenon has led to an increase in the average temperature near the surface of the earth between 0.18 and 0.74 degrees Celsius in the last 100 years. Continuation of this trend in the next 30 years may add some 1.1 degrees Celsius to the present one. Those who consider this as an insignificant phenomenon, never believe that it may multiply the environmental crises in the coming years.

The former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the World Climate Change conference held in Bolivia in 2015 that the world should accelerate the solution to the climate change consequences, as the winters are getting worse and droughts are wider every year, and the high temperature of the earth's surface is unbearable. These climate changes are all warnings to the earth. Ban Ki Moon also said that the G20 states are responsible for emission of over 3/4 of greenhouse gases in the world. Research has shown that China with 21.9 % and the US with 18.1 % of the emissions rank first and second among polluters.

Former US president Barack Obama acknowledged at the International Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015 that the US has been responsible for climate change and urged world leaders to reach a historic agreement to confront this threat. At the opening meeting, Obama said: "I personally come here as the leader of the world's largest economy and the second largest producer of greenhouse gases, saying that the US accepts not only its role in climate change but eagerly welcomes adopting measures in this regard." Obama considered the UN conference as the last opportunity to negotiate the issue of climate changes. He even promised to provide financial aid to poor countries to reduce the dependence of their economies on fossil fuels.

The UN Conference on Climate Change, known as the "COP 21", which was held on November 30, 2015 in the outskirts of Paris, was in fact the "continuation of the Kyoto Protocol". At the summit, representatives from 196 countries agreed to reduce carbon emissions and help poor countries cope with the effects of global warming, as well as a reduction of two degrees in the temperature of the earth. According to the document, the average global temperature is expected to drop to less than two degrees by 2050. According to the agreement, developed countries also committed to allocate $100 billion worth of credits per year to combat climate change annually. The Paris Agreement, which will come into force from 2020, is the first climate agreement of its kind.

With the coming to power of Donald Trump as the US president, all equations have disrupted. According to Trump, the Paris Agreement is in the interest of other countries and not the US, because it has put heavy economic and financial responsibility on the US. According to the figures, Trump declared that the implementation of the agreement would cause the US to lose 7.2 million job opportunities by 2025, as well as 440,000 industrial opportunities. With such a reasoning, Trump officially declared the withdrawal of US from Paris Agreement on June 20, 2017. In a message from the White House, Trump said: "According to my commitments, and to protect the United States, I declare that the US is leaving the climate agreement." Trump added that leaving this agreement will boost coal and oil industries. He also said: "We have the cleanest climate without the Paris Climate Agreement." Approving Trump’s remarks, Scott Pruitt, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency said: "We do not owe apology to any country to oversee our environment."

Donald Trump's decision on withdrawal of the US as the largest air pollutant from Paris Climate Agreement has come up with a number of responses. Following Trump's words, the European Commission announced that the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is a sad day for the international community. Many world officials and international organizations have criticized Trump's decision to leave the Paris Agreement. Former US president Barrack Obama, who was one of the main advocates of the agreement, criticized Trump’s decision and said: "The government of Trump has joined those countries that deny the future."

Withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement is not an unprecedented event in the US as this country is notorious for unilateral violation of global treaties and agreements. Numerous administrations in the US have signed more than three hundred accords with indigenous and Native Americans, but have violated all of them. The recent effort of the Trump administration for leaving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a clear example in this regard. Trump and his cabinet are forging evidence and fabricating documents to justify the US withdrawal from JCPOA but they have not yet succeeded. Brian Baker, the American peace activist, said to Press TV: The US is notorious for violation of accords, therefore we should be prepared for its violation of the JCPOA.

Another evident example of the US violation is its withdrawal from UNESCO which has just taken place. The Russian newspaper RBCA wrote in an analysis: The United States will leave UNESCO and it has acknowledged that the decision is due to the US's reluctance to repay its debt to this UN structure. Donald Trump had promised to reduce payments to the UN since his election campaigns. According to him the US pays 22% of UNESCO budget, while there is no historical monument in the US that the organization wants to preserve. The second reason is that no one supports the Zionist regime at UNESCO and after the announcement of Washington, Tel Aviv quickly decided to leave UNESCO. This reality is confirmed by Maksim Suchkov, an expert of the Russian International Affairs Council. He says: "Washington's decision to withdraw from UNESCO did not have financial motivation only, but it is a political move to support Donald Tramp's logic about the UN." According to this expert, the decision is a sign of Trump’s indifference to the US commitments towards the international organizations.

In view of these facts, now the world people have realized that the current US government is only thinking of its current interests without foresight. Withdrawal of the US as the second emitter of greenhouse gases, from the Paris Climate Agreement, is an obvious example of such a thought that is dangerous not just for the United States, but also for the entire planet.

FK/RM/MG