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The Asahi Shimbun
Opinion
Editorial
article
February 3, 2025 at 12:37 JST
An area in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was damaged by the Noto Peninsula earthquake on Jan. 1, 2024, is flooded by torrential rain on Sept. 22 blamed on global warming. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, a crucial international framework establishing goals, commitments and processes for combating global warming.
In the face of a crisis affecting humanity, international cooperation to halt harmful climate change must not be allowed to regress.
Countries should accelerate their efforts to stop the dangerous rise in global temperatures and continue trying to persuade the Trump administration to re-engage with the rest of the world to protect the health of the planet.
The Trump administration also pulled out of the climate treaty during its first term, but that step was promptly reversed by his successor, former President Joe Biden. Now, this is the second U.S. withdrawal from the pact.
Trump has said, “Global warming is a hoax,” and has strongly called for increased production of oil and natural gas with his call to “drill, baby, drill.” He is also making a significant shift away from the Biden administration’s initiatives to promote electric vehicles.
However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific body under the United Nations for assessing the science related to climate change through cooperation by scientists worldwide, states that the human origin of global warming is “unequivocal.”
Even as Trump turns his back on scientific facts, the importance of taking action remains unshaken.
As the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, the United States plays a crucial role in the progress of these measures. It also holds a position of significant responsibility under the Paris Agreement to provide financial support to developing countries.
Global warming is causing crises across various sectors, including food security, disaster management, public health and conflict. Despite being a shared challenge for humanity, conflicting national interests have hampered effective and well-coordinated international cooperation to tackle the challenge.
Adopted in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through negotiations between governments. However, it imposed binding reduction targets only on developed countries.
This led to growing dissatisfaction among industrialized nations, as emerging economies with rapidly increasing emissions faced no such obligations. Consequently, the U.S. administration of George W. Bush withdrew from the protocol in 2001.
Following years of arduous multilateral negotiations, the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015. This landmark treaty requires all participating countries to set voluntary emission reduction targets and implement measures to achieve them.
The agreement is a testament to the international community’s ability to maintain unity despite conflicting interests.
Meanwhile, last year’s global average temperature rose by 1.55 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, surpassing the Paris Agreement’s target to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, even if only for a single year. Further stagnation in efforts to curb rising temperatures is unacceptable.
Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao stated at a news conference, “Regardless of the U.S. withdrawal, the importance of steadily implementing the Paris Agreement is not diminished. The involvement of the United States in climate change measures is crucial, and we will explore cooperation with the United States through various opportunities.”
Japan should step up its diplomatic efforts to seek positive change from Washington and further promote international cooperation.
Globally, movements toward decarbonization and the expansion of renewable energy are making significant strides. If a nation falls behind in technology development and green investments, it will face negative effects on its economy and employment.
After Trump’s first withdrawal, many state governments, cities, companies and universities in the United States declared their continued commitment to climate change measures. We hope to see a similar wave of commitments this time around.
–The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 2
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