The US Stands Alone to Deny Climate Science
The Art
“The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.
Its overarching goal is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”
However, in recent years, world leaders have stressed the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century.
That’s because the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that crossing the 1.5°C threshold risks unleashing far more severe climate change impacts, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall.
To limit global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations together to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.”
United Nations Climate Change https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement
As of 2025, all 197 countries of the United Nations have endorsed the Paris Agreement. Only Yemen, Libya and Iran have yet to formally join.
The only country to have formally withdrawn from the Paris Agreement is the United States, the result of the executive order of Donald Trump on the first day of his second term (which follows a withdrawal that occurred during his first term that was rescinded by President Biden.) The United States is alone in the world in its steadfast refusal to accept the undeniable science of climate change. Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is only one of dozens of actions taken by the Trump administration in its effort to roll back progress made in combating climate change.
The dots in the featured art represent the 197 nations in the UN that have endorsed the Paris Agreement. The vacant spot in the body of the art, and the dot floating outside of the square, represent the US in its isolation.
