US formally exits the Paris climate accord

States formally exited from the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change which is a global deal to take collective actions for saving the world from disastrous consequences of global warming.

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Key-Points

Though the US under President Donald Trump had announced his decision to withdraw from the Agreement in 2017, the formal withdrawal could technically happen only a day after the US presidential election as per the UN climate body’s exit procedures for the deal.

It made the US the first country to withdraw from the Agreement.

With contributing 14% of total carbon emission, the US is currently the second biggest emitter after China (26%). The EU nations collectively contribute to 9% of total emission followed by India at 7%.

Recently, countries such as China, Japan and South Korea had announced their intentions to raise climate action ambition to reach respective ‘net zero targets’, aligning themselves with the EU’s similar plan.