Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dr Dion George said the US’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is not only an abdication of a global responsibility to humankind, but also damaging to multilateralism, international law and carefully built trust between countries.

US President Donald Trump has again withdrawn his country from the Paris Agreement, which George expressed “profound regret” over, pointing out that the US played an important role in the negotiation of the Paris Agreement.

He highlighted that the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, 15 years after the withdrawal of the US from the Kyoto Protocol, was a “victory” for the multilateral effort to curb climate change and reflected the scientific consensus on the severity of the climate crisis and the urgency of action.

“The Paris Agreement is premised on a common and very strong understanding that we all have a common responsibility to act, whilst noting that nations over time have contributed to the problem differently and have varied capabilities to respond,” explained George.

He noted that the Agreement represented the most “flexible and dynamic” approach to addressing climate change.

“Historically, the US has contributed very significantly to global emissions, still having the highest cumulative historical emissions, and therefore to global warming and the climate crisis we all face.

“Therefore, Americans have a pressing moral obligation not only to lead in reducing emissions, but to support developing economies in contributing to the global effort, and to provide support to poor countries experiencing the impacts of climate change,” he said.  

"The US has committed to do so, most recently at COP 29, and in its recently communicated mitigation target for 2035. It appears now that these commitments will not be upheld.

“We hope that this is not the case,” George said.

He described the US as a leader in the science of climate change and in technological innovation underpinning the global response to climate change, pointing to contributions made by past US administrations, states, cities, scientific organisations, civil society, business and ordinary Americans.

“We applaud the continuing efforts of US citizens and non-state actors to address the climate crisis with the diligence, creativity and imagination we have come to expect. We recall the substantial contribution that previous administrations have made to South Africa’s efforts to address climate change, including, most recently, support provided by the US to South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership. We therefore urge the current administration to take its commitments under international law seriously, and carefully consider the ramifications of its intended withdrawal from the Paris Agreement,” he stated.