The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced plans to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord last night in a decision that both shocked and disappointed people across the world.

The reasoning behind the decision is clearly linked with the conceptual idea that ‘America First’ must prevail over any kind of common sense or basic scientific knowledge.

The argument that Trump presents suggests that the US will be significantly disadvantaged by the Paris Agreement compared to other developing countries such as India and China; particularly in respect of jobs and the economy.

However the move has been almost universally condemned by leaders across the world. Perhaps most notably French President Emmanuel Macron said

“Wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great again.”

In terms of the legal effect the most immediate concern is the funding that the US has pledged to UN Green Climate Fund. As of today America has already paid one-third of the $3billion to the fund that is designed to help with the effects of climate change.

Now that these payments have stopped it is worrying to think what the ripple effects will be on those developing countries. It is entirely possible that the combined effect of reduced financial support alongside the withdrawal of a global super-power such as the US could severely undermine the whole agreement and cause other countries to also pull out.

The actual timetable for withdrawal from the overall agreement will, however, take time and drag on for years to come. The Accord states that any nation that wishes to withdraw can only officially make such a declaration three years after Paris came into force. This will be 16 November 2019 and after this point the negotiations will take another year.

That particular date is interesting because it puts us right in the middle of the next US Presidential election cycle in 2020 and could therefore make climate change and the environment a live issue in any campaign for re-election by Donald Trump.