Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced Friday that the state will join the newly formed U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition that seeks to meet the goals set forth in the Paris climate agreement.

Baker, who had been urged to enter the alliance following President Donald Trump's Thursday decision to withdraw the United States from the global climate pact, said he is committed to working with other states on efforts to address climate change.

"Today we join the U.S. Climate Alliance to expand on our efforts while partnering with other states to combat climate change...our administration looks forward to continued, bipartisan collaboration with other states to protect the environment, grow the economy and deliver a brighter future to the next generation," he said in a statement.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, California Governor Edmund G. Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced the U.S. Climate Alliance in response to news that Trump planned to pull the country out of the 2015 pact that called on countries around the world to cut and ultimately eliminate greenhouse gas pollution.

The alliance will convene U.S. states that are "committed to taking aggressive action on climate change," according to Cuomo's office.

Baker's announcement came shortly after state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, called on the governor to join the coalition.

The Democrat, in making his case, stressed that "there is no reason Massachusetts should not continue its leadership and share our own expertise, goals and successes with those states that are trying to solve the most critical issue of our time."

Under the Paris climate accord, which former President Barack Obama "adopted" by way of executive order in 2016, countries committed to limiting greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to levels that can be naturally absorbed, among other things. It, however, imposed no sanctions on those that don't.

The United States now joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries in a United Nations climate group not signed on to the climate agreement.

This story was modified on Friday, June 2 to clarify that the U.S. previously "adopted" the Paris agreement by way of presidential executive order.