The impact of US withdrawal from Paris agreement can be seen in Pacific region. It will hamper the efforts of mitigating climate change threats in South East-Asia. The decision of President Trump to withdraw and called this agreement as unjust which is imposing the strict rules and regulations on American workers and the business community.
US decided to back out support from 12 nations Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP). It was considered as a major setback for protecting environment from further degradation in the region. He called this agreement as a draconian international deal. According to experts, withdrawal of US from Paris agreements will impact the Asia as they were providing technical assistance to East-Asian countries on climate issues.
The impact of US withdrawal from Paris agreement
The decision of US to abandon the Paris agreement will obstruct the regional cooperation in dealing with climate change. It will have disastrous consequences for managing the global warming, environmental degradation and climate change which is considered to be the major threat in the contemporary world. It can increase the role of China being a major power player in the region. According to the United Nations’ economic and social commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), report the Asia Pacific countries were “geographically vulnerable and highly exposed to the damaging impacts of climate change.” The region is facing the threat of rising sea level.
It is difficult for weak countries in the region to deal with climate change in an effective manner. The question is what will people do? It would force people to migrate to safe places, for example, the new waves of Vietnamese boat people are moving which requires the international support. US played a vital role in countering the threats related to Climate Change particularly in form of Mekong River Commission (MRC) to deal with the impact of environmental degradation on river system of the Pacific region.
The most venerable area is Vietnam’s delta river region and source of rice production for the country is facing a challenge of rising sea levels. It is affecting the rice production and insect infestations. The talks between President Trump and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the White House, the U.S. said they will continue to work together with Hanoi in addressing the global issues, including environmental concerns. According to the White House, the U.S. “affirmed its assistance to Vietnam in combating climate change via concrete mitigation and adaptation measures”. In views of Analysts, for example, Smith Dharmasaroja, expressed his concerns by saying that U.S. withdrawal affects the technical support on climate change efforts will impact in Pacific region.
According to experts, US technical support on climate change is essential “Pulling out from that agreement with the U.N. is not a good idea because we are in a region that is affected by global warming. Without security – without the help of the United States of America, the global warming in Asia and other countries will be affected a lot because we are looking for the worst floods, worst storms,” According to Smith most of the small countries looked up to the U.S. for its technical expertise and knowledge in climate issues. China cannot fill the gap of US in countering the climate change. According to the environmental experts, the other countries will have to increase their efforts to decrease the global temperatures to standards set by the Paris agreement.
To conclude, the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement will decrease the fund for the environmental protection and climate science. It will adversely affect the efforts by small countries of East-Asia in countering Climate change as they were heavily dependent on the US to deal with technical issues of environmental degradation. It will hamper the efforts of other stake holders in reducing the temperature to the 2 degree Celsius threshold.