How The US Presidential Election Affects Climate Change

Ilustrasi (Raga Granada / YOU)

JAKARTA - The United States (US) Presidential Election (Pilpres) was never just a democratic party. The results are not only important for the fate of the US people, but also have a major impact on the life of the world, including climate change.

The US is a superpower. All of his policies often have an effect globally. However, this year there are more concrete reasons. One day after the election, the US officially withdrew from the Paris agreement that had been in place since 2015.

Launching CNA, Monday, October 19, the world's climate scientists have expressed their concern and disappointment with the US decision to leave the Paris agreement. The US position is clearly important there. Without the US, the fight against climate change will be lame.

Scientists have cited Trump as a source of major problems. Trump, lately has indeed been widely used by the narrative that climate change is a big hoax.

Trump has even published various policies that violate various standards of environmental concern. "Trump's signature action on climate disruption has undermined our moral standing, taking us from leader to backwardness," said climate scientist Michael Mann.

Michael added that without climate leadership from the US, the world's ability to put a real agenda against climate change would not have a significant impact. "I fear that the rest of the world will not take seriously enough of their obligation to reduce emissions in time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."

Or even if Trump loses and Biden is elected, restoring US involvement in the Paris agreement will still not be an easy matter and will take a long time. "That's why I call this a successful or failed election in terms of climate," he added.

There is hope

The fact that climate change has exacerbated natural disasters, such as hurricanes, forest fires, floods and landslides is becoming increasingly apparent. In the midst of these conditions, the 2015 Paris agreement is one of the world's important efforts to fight climate change.

Based on the agreement in Paris, the participating countries agreed to limit global warming to far below 2 degrees Celsius. In fact, the US has previously attempted to reduce its emissions by 26 percent.

Then, in 2016, Trump's election as US President disrupted the agreement. Ultimately, the US vowed to withdraw completely from the Paris agreement.

US President Donald Trump (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

Climate scientists view this as the worst-case scenario and move countries even further away from commitments to slowing climate change. However, Director of Power Shift Africa Mohamed Adow said, on the one hand, the departure of the US actually made many other countries contribute more fully.

He even said that Trump's decision has inspired many other countries about their respective strengths. "He has been the last test and despite a full frontal attack no one else has followed his stupidity and has broken out of the agreement," he said.

In fact, with the planned exit of the US from the Paris agreement, other major emitters are starting to fill the void in the leadership against climate change. Take, for example, the European Commission which is now starting to increase its emission reductions by 55 percent by 2030.

Head of Paris treaty delegation (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

Not only that, our enemy China has also committed to take part in fighting climate change. Therefore, China has the potential to be a country that will lead the way in world resistance to climate change.

Belize envoy to the United Nations, Lois Young, even accused Trump of Ecocide. In that sense, the US exit from the Paris Agreement is the basis for Trump to perpetuate the destruction of natural resources in a structured, systematic and massive manner.

"If they (other countries) join in and leave America, following China's lead, I think it will minimize the damage," he said.

US remains important

But in reality, the US remains an important figure in the fight against climate change. The main French negotiator in the Paris agreement, Laurence Tubiana, said that the whole world cannot compensate for emissions from the US. What's more, the US itself doesn't care about its huge emissions.

Even if many US companies independently reduce their own carbon emissions, these efforts will still not be enough because the main key to fighting climate change is in the hands of the US government. In this context, when Trump is re-elected, it will be very bad news for the world-wide environmental agenda.

Tubiana sees Biden's presence as Trump's challenger to bring fresh air that will return the US to the Paris agreement. This is because in each of his campaigns Biden has often conveyed his commitment to fighting climate change.

Biden has even announced the amount of US $ 2 trillion to be allocated to fight climate change. "No challenge is more important than climate change," said Biden.

Biden is not alone. Concern for climate change is in line with what 60 percent of Americans want. In a new Pew Research Center survey this year, about 60 percent of Americans also think climate change is a major threat to US welfare.