Both nations must work together to improve global climate policies.
In this sense, the Paris Climate Deal (or the Paris Agreement) is a crucial agreement that shows the global community's presence in this global crisis. The role of the United States as a powerful player is critical to its performance. With its significant effect on the policy question and willingness to promote the adoption of this deal, the country's failure to participate in the pact is concerning.
Analysis of Possible Actions for the United States
Thus, the presented section analyses the possible actions the United States should take towards the desired smooth pacing of the global climate policy in the context of participating in the Paris Climate Pact. To start with, the United States has a very powerful image in the world and can play a crucial role towards the formulation and implementation of global climate policies. Notwithstanding, the President of the United States is not sure for participating in Paris Climate Pact. According to President Trump, such involvement would affect the smooth business stratagems of the United States, because "[The agreement] is bad for U.S. business [and allows] foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use" (Christopher, 2017). In other words, it is evident that the country currently lacks an awareness of the real extent of the global climate change problem.
The Paris Agreement and its Challenges
In its turn, the Paris Agreement is one of the most prominent discussions on this topic. In December 2015, it launched the process of fighting with the climatic variations and coming up with an effective model. At the same time, the execution of the agreement is not easy, and there are still problems to be addressed and assessed to make space for its proper operation. Among them, it is illustrative that every nation contributes harmful gasses to the atmosphere, which are calculated according to Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) (Harvey, 2016). In other words, all countries should revisit their NDCs voluntarily to facilitate the already defined visions of the Paris Agreement. In this context, the developing and underdeveloped countries need political, economic, and technological support from the developed nations, including the United States, to execute the prescriptions of the agreement (Bell, Davis, & Fletcher, 2004). In this case, the presented recommendations for the United States are aimed at increasing the awareness of the global importance of each nation in dealing with environmental problems on a global scale.
Importance of United States' Participation in Global Initiatives
On the one hand, participating of the United States in global initiatives aimed at reducing global pollution is essential. In fact, many conferences are being organized by environmental institutions to facilitate the implementation of the Paris Agreement and tackle the global climate changes. For instance, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Climate Strategies, the Uongozi Institute, and Stanley Foundation established 'The Third Global Climate Policy Conference (GCPC)' with a subtitle depicting 'Implementing the Paris Agreement,' and held it in Dares Salaam, Tanzania. The steps like this are vital to facilitate the execution of the change in global climate policy. Therefore, the United States should start participating in various global initiatives to realize the extent of the problem and become keen towards the changing climatic conditions of the world that do affect the health of millions of people from around the world. As a precedent, Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, signed by the United States in 2007, helped the country to minimize the emission of the harmful pollutants into the atmosphere (World Bank, 2015). Therefore, such expeditions will provide the country with a proper image of the current threats to a safe environment.
On another hand, the awareness of the link between environmental and social problems can help the United States realize the importance of participation in Paris Climate Pact. Specifically, one of the important aspects of the document is that the world nations should comprehend the harm of the atmospheric pollution. However, the most developed countries, including the United States, still contaminate the environment with huge amounts of the gasses, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), which results in the increase in the temperature and other climate changes. By causing this harm, the United States has a moral obligation towards other nations, especially the developing countries with poorer health facilities (Chen, Goldberg, & Villeneuve, 2008). Therefore, the nation should perceive its participation in Paris Climate Pact as a contribution for a better future of our planet with the minimized number of deaths and serious health issues. Since the mounting emission of harmful and poisonous substances into the environment is altering the ecological balance of the world, the United States should be interested in the resolution of the policy issue by participating in Paris Climate Pact and implementing its recommendations. Even though stakeholders from around the world address a climate change issue, the US, being a bigger player in world politics and economics, is able to effectively influence the final policy recommendations of the Paris Agreement.
In Conclusion
In sum, it is evident that participation of the United States in Paris Climate Pact is essential in achieving the desired state of affairs, meaning to smoothly get a policy passed that eliminates the pollution of the atmosphere. At the same time, current attitude of the nation on the global environmental issues raises concerns. Therefore, it is essential for the United States to participate in other global initiatives to realize the extent of the global environmental problem and consider the importance of a climate for every society, which means that every current global action in dealing with the problem should be supported. Since with the great power comes greater responsibility, the huge political and economic power of the United States calls for its accountability towards the permission and participation in the Paris Climate Pact.
References
Bell, M. L., Davis D. L., & Fletcher T. (2004). A retrospective assessment of mortality from the London smog episode of 1952: the role of influenza and pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives, 112(1), 6–8.
Chen, H., Goldberg, M. S., & Villeneuve, P. J. (2008). A systematic review of the relation between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and chronic diseases. Reviews on Environmental Health, 23(4), 243–297.
Christopher, C. H. (2017, March 7). Nixing the Paris climate pact: Simply rolling back Obama environmental rules is not enough. Washington Times. Retrieved on April 8, 2017, from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/7/paris-climate-pact-should-be-abandoned/
Harvey, F. (2016, November 3). World on track for 3 °C of warming under current global climate pledges, warns UN. The Guardian. Retrieved on April 8, 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/03/world-on-track-for-3c-of-warming-under-current-global-climate-pledges-warns-un.
World Bank. (2015). Total greenhouse gas emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent). World Bank: Data. Retrieved on April 8, 2017, from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.GHGT.KT.CE.
