On January 20, shortly after taking office as President of the United States, Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders. One of them withdrew the country from the Paris Agreement, an international treaty signed in 2016 by 195 countries with the objective of curbing the impacts of climate change and limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. Trump is a vocal critic of measures for reducing global warming and already withdrew from the agreement during his previous term, a decision which was then reversed by his successor, Joe Biden. Another executive order was signed to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) within a year. Of the 190 countries that comprise the WHO, the US is the biggest individual donor, contributing around US$550 million annually, equivalent to 18% of the organization’s budget. Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, emphasized that the organization plays a crucial role in protecting the health and safety of the world’s population, including people from the USA (CNN Brazil and UN News, January 21).
Republish