Democrats on Thursday passed their first significant climate change legislation since gaining control of the House of Representatives this year, directing Donald Trump to remain in the landmark international agreement to limit the pollution that is heating the world.

The measure would not directly reduce the greenhouse gases causing worse heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and storms. It falls far short of the action scientists say is needed and the vision outlined by progressives and supported by many Democrat presidential candidates in the Green New Deal.

Only a few Republicans crossed party lines to vote for the bill, which the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said will “go nowhere”. McConnell said the US participating in the Paris climate agreement would have an “unmeasurable effect” globally and hurt the economy.

“My colleagues on the left think these self-inflicted national injuries just feel like this greening of America is the right thing to do,” McConnell said in a statement. Republicans in the House have also sought to force a vote on the Green New Deal, expecting that many Democrats would not be able to stand behind the specifics and the costs of the sweeping proposal.

Donald Trump made it a campaign promise, later carried through, to exit the 2015 Paris deal, in which almost all the nations in the world set voluntary goals for tackling climate change. His administration has aimed to roll back Obama-era rules meant to nudge the US toward its commitments. And his agencies have made efforts to bolster fossil fuels.

The US in the global deal agreed to cut its climate pollution 26-28% by 2025, but data shows the country far off track from that goal.

Democrats defended their efforts, calling climate change an immediate danger to the American public and the world.

“Last year was an abject failure in addressing the climate crisis in both policy and real-world emission reductions. In the US and globally, we fell short,” said Illinois congressman Mike Quigley, a Democrat. “We cannot afford another year like it.”

Trump cannot formally leave the deal until a day after the 2020 election.

In a morning press conference ahead of the vote, the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, did not expand on her party’s climate plans, but noted the bill is one of many measures Democrats are passing that the Republican-controlled Senate will not consider.

Jean Su, the Center for Biological Diversity’s energy director, called the bill necessary “but far from sufficient”.

“The science demands an economy-wide mobilization to end our addiction to dirty energy and harness renewable sources on an ambitious new scale,” she said.