US policy flips and a new climate order

Going ahead, the US could abandon the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change altogether, plunging the entire world into a deeper crisis. Such an exit, if and when it happens, will mean much more damage than just the US reneging on its climate action promises. It could jeopardise the framework itself: Offsetting the increased burden from US emissions will be daunting and without the chief funder of climate action, many might simply find it difficult to finance their energy transition. This makes pre-emptive action and urgent climate leadership by developed and oil economies and large developing economies all the more important. A new climate order must feature faster transition for all economies, which will mean more ambitious mitigation funding by developed and oil economies, stepping up research, and lowering barriers for trade of material essential for renewable generation and battery storage. This may seem difficult, but is essential to averting cataclysmic consequences.

At the same time, state and city lawmakers in the US must be rallied to leverage its federal structure to push back — litigate and legislate must be the mantra to ringfence mitigation from the Trump onslaught. Time is running out for the planet, and it can’t afford a US-sized fetter dragging mitigation efforts down.