On June 1, President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Accord on climate change.

Trump misinformed people regarding the impacts of the Paris Accord. “Even if the Paris agreement were implemented in full,” Trump said, “with total compliance from all nations, it is estimated it would only produce a 2/10ths of 1 degree C reduction in global temperature by the year 2100.”

John Reilly, the co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, did not know Trump had quoted his study in his speech. His study looked at the incremental changes in the accord that would happen if countries kept their promises. It found that over a five- to 10-year period, global warming would slow from 0.6 degree to 1.1 degrees C by the end of the century.

While a small change in temperature doesn’t seem like much, it could be the difference of survival for small island nations, like the Maldives.

The Republican Party openly courts Christians. Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence are devoted evangelical Christians. The biggest distinguishing factor of Christians is Christ’s covenant of being our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment and human ecology (2015), which he gave to President Trump in May when he visited the Vatican, made the connection between poverty and climate change.

This is where the first big disconnect comes in. The United States is the biggest carbon polluter in history. The global south, which did little to create the problem, but now is facing catastrophic changes in the climate. Trump made it clear he was ending contributions to the Green Climate Fund, “which is costing the United States a vast fortune.” The United States has pledged by far the most — $3 billion total or $9.41 per capita. Many countries have offered more on a per capita basis. The Swedes, for example, will contribute nearly $60 each.

Here is a second disconnect: it is abundantly clear to military around the world that climate change is the mother of all risks. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, exacerbating threats in already unstable regions of the world. In 2016, the USA’s military budget topped $600 billion and 3.2 per cent of GDP. Trump addressed NATO two weeks ago and demanded that they spend 2 per cent of their GDP on the military. Yet Trump is dismissing global co-operation needed to address the crisis.

Everything is connected on Earth. Trump does not appear to understand this. Herein lies the gift Trump has given the world. We will now move on without a disconnected thinker obstructing the path forward.

Cathy Orlando

national director,



Citizens Climate Lobby Canada