Climate activists express concern for planet after Trump win

But that’s precisely what makes the election of Donald Trump so devastating. Environmental groups are anxious about what a Trump presidency means for global climate action.

More than 100 nations representing 70% of greenhouse gas emissions have inked the historic Paris Agreement, the world’s first universal climate pact, which came into force in early November.

“People are upset”, said Timmons Roberts, an environmental studies professor at Brown University.

Environmental groups argue that the rest of the world could soldier on without the U.S. But Bordoff notes that the Paris deal starts with modest reductions in emissions – well below the amounts scientists say are needed to avoid the worst effects of a warming climate. Despite Trump’s record on the issue, some in Marrakech are expressing cautious optimism that he could change his tune when he’s in office.

Veteran climate analysts said a Trump White House would pay a heavy price if they simply abandoned the United Nations talks, today tasked with implementing last year’s historic pact.

At UN climate talks in Morocco, countries say they are prepared to move ahead without the US. ‘There are significant political consequences if you withdraw from an agreement, ‘ David Waskow of World Resources Institute told me back in April.

Global environmental and social changes, including climate change, exacerbate many of these risks, it added. “As a matter of worldwide law, and as a matter of human survival, the nations of the world can, must, and will hold the United States to its climate commitments”, said Maya Golden-Krasner, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Second, Trump will nearly certainly terminate President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, a set of EPA regulations meant to reduce emissions from the power sector. The Washington Post’s Chris Mooney breaks down what a Donald Trump presidency will mean when it comes to climate change. “We are convinced that all Parties will respect their commitments and stay the course in this collective effort”. But it would also send a dismaying signal to other countries, which will feel less pressure to follow through on their own pledges absent US participation. Negotiators there watched the results of the presidential election closely. The U.S. has committed through the Paris Agreement to working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025, but the targets are non-binding and the country would face no penalties for non-compliance. And last month, almost 200 countries agreed to phase down the use of potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and cooling.

Most of the people I’ve spoken with here not only support Clinton, they also think she’ll win.

“The developing world is now in the lead for many climate actions”, Solheim said, describing how some of the most recent advancements in sustainable energy have been led by businesses and developing nations. Indeed, given Trump’s campaign trail talk about firing up the domestic coal, oil, and gas industries, we might even see our emissions increase.

The Paris agreement calls on the global community to take action to address threats posed by a warming climate by cutting their emissions. This means the earliest the USA could leave the Paris agreement is 2020.

During the campaign, Trump pledged to tear up United Nations global climate change agreements while appointing career climate science denialist Myron Ebell as the person to remove key powers from the Environmental Protection Agency. Both are also seen as key countries that need to do their share of work if the world is ever going to hold global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, which countries have agreed on previous year.

While shell-shocked American climate activists in Marrakech cried and embraced, US negotiators declined to speak to reporters about the election outcome.