Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the 2015 Paris Agreement to reduce emissions and combat climate change sends the wrong signal to the world and could hand its competitors an upper hand in the clean energy race, experts have said.
It was an anticipated step by Mr Trump that comes despite heat records being shattered and scientists warning of more extreme weather events.
Market watchers have said that progress to tackle climate change will continue – although at a slower pace in the US.
Speaking to The National, Thomas Hohne-Sparborth, head of Sustainability Research, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, said that during Mr Trump's last administration, the energy transition continued despite a withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. “The cost of solar continued to fall, we had the quintupling of the number of electric vehicles on the road in the US,” Mr Hohne-Sparborth said.
The move, according to Karim Elgendy, climate expert and associate fellow at British think tank, Chatham House, “marks a dramatic reversal in US climate policy and an abdication of its global responsibility”.
“While the US currently accounts for 13 per cent of annual emissions, its historical emissions represent a quarter of accumulated atmospheric carbon from human activity to date. This weakens the United States' global standing and sends the wrong signals for some policymakers in developing countries that remained on the fence regarding climate commitments.”
Steven Okun, a member of former president Bill Clinton's administration and now chief executive of APAC Advisors, said the climate crisis would worsen regardless of Mr Trump’s decision “with devastating consequences for the environment, human rights and global stability”.
“The world will witness more frequent and severe extreme weather events, rising sea levels, economic disruption and melting of polar ice caps and glaciers,” Mr Okun told The National. “The US not being a party to the Paris Agreement will make this more challenging.”
Daniel Murray, deputy chief information officer and global head of research at Swiss private bank EFG International, told The National it was a “major setback for the climate change community”.
“It could encourage other countries to follow suit and will make it much more difficult for the targeted temperature change limits to be met, not least because the US ranks second behind only China in the world ranking of greenhouse gas emissions by country.”
It also potentially creates additional costs for businesses that might have to follow different rules and regulations dependent in which part of the world they are located.
Second time around
It is the second time Mr Trump has withdrawn America from the deal – to limit global temperature increases to 1.5ºC on pre-industrial levels – first in 2017 before Mr Biden rejoined.
“Every fraction of a degree matters,” Moustafa Bayoumi, climate change research fellow at the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi, told The National. “The world is not on track to keep the 1.5ºC target so this could make it even harder.”
Mr Bayoumi said it could slow US emissions cuts and lead to reduced funding for entities that tackle environmental issues. He said countries in the Middle East and other regions could be hit by climate finance cuts, while China and EU could play a bigger role globally. “The energy transition will happen but the pace could be affected,” he said. “It is quite worrying.”
However, coalitions of US states, cities and businesses that formed when Mr Trump pulled the US out the first time are making fresh commitments to shore up efforts to tackle climate change. “They still exist, are active and reiterating they will uphold targets,” Mr Bayoumi said. “For them nothing has changed.”
World has moved on
Analysis by the UK-based climate specialist website, Carbon Brief, has found that Mr Trump's second term could add four billion tonnes to US emissions by 2030 – equivalent to the combined annual emissions of the EU and Japan.
However, experts also said that the world is in a different place to 2017 when Mr Trump began his first term. Since then, countries have increased the clean energy transition with the International Energy Agency now forecasting the global market for such technologies to triple to more than $2 trillion by 2035. This is driven not so much through altruistic reasons but a desire for energy security and to develop future industries.
Mr Elgendy said the transition appears to have passed an “irreversible tipping point” that is being driven by increasing investments and declining costs in solar technology rather than policy commitments. “Solar photovoltaic costs have fallen by 15 per cent per cent annually between 2010 to 2020 and are set to become the cheapest source of electricity in 2027 in all but eight countries,” he said. “This technological and economic momentum exists independently of climate policies.”
Climate Analytics, a climate science and policy institute in Berlin, on Tuesday said Mr Trump’s decision could boost US competitors such as China and Europe in clean energy and technology. “Not only is US global leadership damaged but more significantly is its clean tech industry's competitive position in a growing global market, currently dominated by China,” said Mr Elgendy.
Will the US still attend climate talks?
The next annual climate gathering, Cop30, takes place in Brazil, but the US is still expected to take part in what is seen as a crucial meeting to stave off the worst effects of climate change. “What happens in those rooms does affect them,” said Mr Bayoumi. “They will not have the same obligations but they will definitely participate in the negotiations.”
Experts previously warned of much graver consequences should the US withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Still, Mr Okun said governments and citizens across the world will “continue demanding climate action and sustainability” from businesses and investors. However, he cautioned that there could be more of a focus on climate adaptation and “less so on climate mitigation”. Adaptation refers to ways to deal with climate change such as building sea walls or using water more efficiently while mitigation refers to emissions cuts.
“Expect to see greater investment and focus on the former. The planet will only getting more dangerous as a result.”
'The door remains open'
Still, about half of Americans “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose US action to withdraw from the climate accord, according to a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. And even Mr Trump's Republicans are not overwhelmingly in favour. The move also comes after deadly fires in Los Angeles devastated large part parts of the city that scientists suggested climate change exacerbated.
Mr Murray predicted an increase in climate-related events, with a knock-on impact on the global insurance industry. “The recent Californian fires put this in sharp focus,” he said. Simon Stiell, the UN's climate chief on Tuesday, meanwhile, said embracing the global clean energy boom will mean “massive profits, millions of manufacturing jobs and clean air”.
“Ignoring it only sends all that vast wealth to competitor economies, while climate disasters like droughts, wildfires and superstorms keep getting worse, destroying property and businesses, hitting nationwide food production, and driving economywide price inflation,” said Mr Stiell in remarks carried by Reuters. “The door remains open to the Paris Agreement and we welcome constructive engagement from any and all countries.”
Donald Trump's first day back in office – in pictures
MATCH INFO
Austria 2
Hinteregger (53'), Schopf (69')
Germany 1
Ozil (11')
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
WHY%20AAYAN%20IS%20'PERFECT%20EXAMPLE'
%3Cp%3EDavid%20White%20might%20be%20new%20to%20the%20country%2C%20but%20he%20has%20clearly%20already%20built%20up%20an%20affinity%20with%20the%20place.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAfter%20the%20UAE%20shocked%20Pakistan%20in%20the%20semi-final%20of%20the%20Under%2019%20Asia%20Cup%20last%20month%2C%20White%20was%20hugged%20on%20the%20field%20by%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20the%20team%E2%80%99s%20captain.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EWhite%20suggests%20that%20was%20more%20a%20sign%20of%20Aayan%E2%80%99s%20amiability%20than%20anything%20else.%20But%20he%20believes%20the%20young%20all-rounder%2C%20who%20was%20part%20of%20the%20winning%20Gulf%20Giants%20team%20last%20year%2C%20is%20just%20the%20sort%20of%20player%20the%20country%20should%20be%20seeking%20to%20produce%20via%20the%20ILT20.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CHe%20is%20a%20delightful%20young%20man%2C%E2%80%9D%20White%20said.%20%E2%80%9CHe%20played%20in%20the%20competition%20last%20year%20at%2017%2C%20and%20look%20at%20his%20development%20from%20there%20till%20now%2C%20and%20where%20he%20is%20representing%20the%20UAE.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CHe%20was%20influential%20in%20the%20U19%20team%20which%20beat%20Pakistan.%20He%20is%20the%20perfect%20example%20of%20what%20we%20are%20all%20trying%20to%20achieve%20here.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%E2%80%9CIt%20is%20about%20the%20development%20of%20players%20who%20are%20going%20to%20represent%20the%20UAE%20and%20go%20on%20to%20help%20make%20UAE%20a%20force%20in%20world%20cricket.%E2%80%9D%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
Transmission: CVT
Power: 170bhp
Torque: 220Nm
Price: Dh98,900
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Letswork%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOmar%20Almheiri%2C%20Hamza%20Khan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20co-working%20spaces%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.1%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20with%20investors%20including%20500%20Global%2C%20The%20Space%2C%20DTEC%20Ventures%20and%20other%20angel%20investors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20about%2020%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Chirag Suri , Zahoor Khan
MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
