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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on January 23, 2025

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Paris Agreement

For Preliminary Examination:  Current events of national and international importance

For Mains Examination: GS II - International relations and Environment

Context:

The White House has confirmed that President Donald Trump will once again withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. He has repeatedly referred to climate change as a “hoax” and seeks to free US oil and gas industries from environmental regulations.

Read about:

Paris agreement

All conventions related to Climate Change

Key takeaways:

• The White House has announced that President Donald Trump intends to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Trump has consistently dismissed climate change as a "hoax" and aims to relieve the US oil and gas industries from environmental restrictions.
• The Paris Agreement's central objective is to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to keep global warming this century "well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while striving to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
• The 1.5-degree target is based on a report indicating that exceeding this threshold could expose certain regions and vulnerable ecosystems to heightened risks over an extended period.
• Under the agreement, participating countries are required to update their plans to combat climate change—referred to as nationally determined contributions (NDCs)—every five years. Each updated NDC must reflect greater ambition than the previous version, as outlined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Withdrawal Process from the Paris Agreement

• Article 28 of the Paris Agreement specifies the withdrawal procedure and timeline for member states. It allows any country to withdraw after three years from the agreement's entry into force (2016) by submitting written notification to the Depositary.
• The withdrawal takes effect one year after the Depositary receives the notification or on a later date specified in the notice.
• If a country chooses to exit, it must send the notification to the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
• However, the withdrawal only becomes official one year after submission, during which the country remains bound by the agreement and must continue participating in its activities, as stated by the UNFCCC