Africans ask to isolate the United States when it comes to environmental issues while Syria made an unexpected announcement

Read in English: COP 23: what is going to happen to the USA and Syria?

Environmental experts are discussing the implementation of the Paris Agreement in Bonn, Germany. The main issue that is going to be deliberated on is the negotiation, execution, and the economic contributions in order to achieve previously established goals.  

During the first days of the congregation, a group of African campaigners publicly asked to set clear “boundaries” between the United States and the rest of countries member of the Paris Agreement.

The civil society group Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) assured that the world has become more vulnerable due to Donald Trump’s attempt to reverse his country’s environmental policies, which includes coal support and climate change denial.

Mithika Mwenda, the alliance’s Secretary General, assured that “this is the time to classify the global community IGNORE INTO two: those for the people and planet, and those for Trump and Profit”.

PACJA is a group conformed by smallholder farmers, trusts, pastoralists, women, and youth from across Africa

Climate Home News also assured that the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance is asking the rest of the delegations to support “kicking the US delegation out” of the conference. They, apparently, said that if the US is not part of the agreement, they don’t have the right to be involved in the negotiations of its implementation. However, despite Trump’s decision of pulling out of the Agreement, it will not be affecting until 2020.

Annexation of Syria 

The US’s isolation seems to be eminent. Syria, while submerged in a civil war in which around 300,000 deaths have been recorded, announced its desire to be part of the Paris Agreement. This decision, as well as that of Nicaragua who also wished to be part of this project, leaves the United States as the only country not involved.

The announced was made by Safa Al Jayussi, director of the Jordanian NGO IndyAct. According Al Jayussi, Syrian delegates expressed their intention of annexing the Middle Eastern country to the environmental pact to stop the increase of the world temperatures and the reduction of CO2 emissions.

According to Al Jayussi, Syria will sign and ratify the Agreement in the next couple of months. This means that, for now and until the US’s withdrawal, all the countries in the world are part of the Paris Pact.

Latin American Post | Santiago Gómez Hernández

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