Saving the planet

US President Donald Trump's decision last month to pull his country out of the 2015 Paris climate accord was a big disappointment for the entire international community, but the move may not succeed in dealing a death blow to the pact.

The globally hailed accord, signed by 195 nations and already ratified by 158 states, is not going to be defeated by Trump's ill-conceived decision, even though the US is a major contributor to greenhouse emissions.

The momentum generated by the universally acclaimed accord cannot and must not be stopped by a single country no matter how big or mighty it may be.

Many prominent US state governors and mayors have already signalled that no matter what the president decides, they are not going to abrogate the accord, for all intents and purposes.

The agreement was after all the result of two decades of painstaking talks to curb greenhouse emissions with a view to ending the fossil fuel era. 

The treaty's goal to reach zero greenhouse emissions by the second-half of the century is simply unstoppable. 

Unfortunately, the US president is sending a wrong message to the world about his country's commitment to save planet Earth from eventual destruction. The US economy is the biggest and most powerful in the world and must not be left behind in the efforts to control climate change and global warming. 

Climatologists are unanimous in their view about the looming dangers of climate change. 

Trump’s "America first" policy intends to put Washington's short-sighted interests ahead of all other global concerns. 

This perspective is not befitting a great nation like the US. Trump still has a chance to reverse his decision on the Paris deal and redeem himself.