The Paris Climate Agreement is a landmark international agreement on climate change, designed to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The agreement was signed by 195 countries in December 2015, and it came into force in November 2016. While almost every country in the world is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, there are a couple of notable exceptions. In this article, we will take a look at two countries that are not part of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The United States of America

Perhaps the most significant country that is not part of the Paris Climate Agreement is the United States of America. The US was one of the original signatories to the agreement, having signed it in December 2015. However, in June 2017, President Donald Trump announced that the US would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, claiming that it was unfair to American workers and businesses. The withdrawal process took effect on November 4, 2020, one day after the US presidential election.

Nicaragua

Another country that is not part of the Paris Climate Agreement is Nicaragua. Unlike the US, Nicaragua did not reject the agreement on ideological grounds. Instead, it refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that it did not go far enough to combat climate change. Nicaragua argued that the Paris Agreement was weak and toothless, and that it did not do enough to hold the biggest polluters accountable for their contributions to climate change. Despite this, Nicaragua has pledged to combat climate change on its own terms, and it has set a target of generating 90% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while almost every country in the world is a signatory to the Paris Climate Agreement, there are a couple of notable exceptions. The United States of America is perhaps the most significant country that is not part of the agreement, having withdrawn from it in November 2020. Nicaragua, on the other hand, did not sign the agreement on the grounds that it was not ambitious enough. While these two countries are not part of the Paris Agreement, it is worth noting that they are still taking steps to combat climate change on their own terms.