The Print, January 2026
The US officially exited the Paris Agreement on Jan. 27. It’s the second time President Donald Trump has pulled out of the pact that commits almost 200 countries to keep global warming to no more than 2C (3.6F), and ideally 1.5C, above pre-industrial levels. Compared with his first term in office, Trump has escalated his retreat from global cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Just weeks before the exit from the Paris deal took effect, he ordered the withdrawal of the US from the United Nations treaty that underpins international climate talks, as well as more than 60 multilateral organizations focused on the environment, peace, gender equality and democracy.
As the US government vacates its seat at the negotiating table, the rest of the world is likely to continue pursuing joint efforts to tackle rising temperatures — the past three years have been the hottest on record, marked by deadly and costly wildfires and flooding. But progress could be more difficult without the participation of the largest economy and biggest historical polluter, whose absence may also give some nations cover to make less stringent commitments. Even if a future administration in Washington reverses Trump’s changes, in the interim, climate organizations will have to grapple with the loss of billions of dollars of US funding — unless other nations or philanthropies step in to fill the void.
