The European Union Regrets US Decisions To Leave The Paris Climate Deal

UNSPLASH/Mika Baumeister ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The European Union regrets the United States' decision to leave the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

Just hours after being sworn in on Monday (20/1), US President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the country to exit the climate deal.

"The European Union regrets the United States' decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. This agreement remains the best hope for all of us. For more than a decade, we have worked side by side with our American friends to design and implement the Paris Agreement," said EU Economic Trade and Security Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, quoted by ANTARA from Sputnik-OANA, Tuesday, January 21.

"Companies in Europe and America are both investing in climate action, clean technology, and bringing benefits to their citizens," Sefkovic said.

"Therefore, Europe will remain on track and work to ensure this continues, both domestically and abroad, with all countries looking to protect nature and stop global warming," Sefcovic stressed.

The plenary session focused on geopolitical and economic implications for EU-US relations under Trump's new administration.

The Paris deal on climate change was adopted in 2015 by 195 members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The deal aims to limit the global average temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and is sought to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In 2020, Trump previously pulled the United States out of the deal, but on January 2021, the then US President, Joe Biden, canceled Trump's orders and returned the US to the Paris Agreement.