US President Donald Trump is poised to pull the country out of the Paris climate accord, US media have reported, quoting senior officials.
The 2015 accord for the first time united most of the world in a single agreement to mitigate climate change.
It was signed by 195 countries out of 197 in a UN group on climate change, with Syria and Nicaragua abstaining.
European allies had begged Trump not to ditch the pact last week, and the White House said the president was considering their position.
Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, had advised her father against an exit, as well as a series of world leaders, including the Pope and France’s new president, Emmanuel Macron.
Pulling out will mean the U.S. joins Russia, Iran, North Korea and a string of developing countries in not putting the agreement into action.
The president said, on Wednesday morning, in a tweet that he would be making an announcement “over the next few days” following a report from Axios that he was moving forward with plans to pull the US from it.
The news outlet said Trump had decided to stick with a campaign promise to pull the US out of the accord that commits participants to drastically reducing greenhouse gases, siding with conservatives in his party over his daughter.
Climate change, or global warming, refers to the damaging effect of gases, or emissions, released from industry and agriculture on the atmosphere.
The Paris accord is meant to limit the global rise in temperature attributed to emissions.
Signatorie agreed to: “Keep global temperatures ‘well below’ the level of 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial times and ‘endeavour to limit’ them even more, to 1.5C.
“Limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.
“Review each country’s contribution to cutting emissions every five years so they scale up to the challenge.
“Enable rich countries to help poorer nations by providing “climate finance” to adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.”
To date, 147 out of the 197 countries have ratified the accord, including the US, where the accord entered into force last November.
Trump has previously called climate change “a hoax” devised by the Chinese government.
He promised to “cancel” the Paris deal during his election campaign last year, saying it was “bad for US business” because it allowed “foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use”.
His supporters argue the accord restricts America’s ability to do what it wants with its energy resources – an important sector of the economy.
However, under the accord, countries set emission limits themselves – not an outside panel.
It remains unclear when or how the administration plans to pull out of the climate agreement, the BBC’s Paul Rincon writes.
A four-year period is required to quit the Paris deal, but by pulling out of the UN’s climate body – the UNFCCC – the US could extricate itself in one year.
However, this would represent a significant move: the US signed up to the convention in 1992, under then President George Bush Snr.
A small team, including Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, is working on the details of how the withdrawal will be executed, the Axios news site reports, quoting unnamed sources.
America is the world’s second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter after China, so its withdrawal will have a real impact.
Under the Paris accord, it is committed to reducing greenhouse emissions by 26-28 percent below its 2005 level by 2025.
There are fears that other countries may follow the US lead or show less commitment to the goals of the Paris accord.
Analysts argue that it would be unlikely for China or India and others to continue to cut their carbon while the US did not.
Speaking to the BBC earlier, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the accord would survive regardless of Trump’s position.
The French government said it would pursue a “very aggressive” policy to uphold the Paris accord.
A top EU official said Europe was ready to assume leadership on combating climate change.
“There is a much stronger expectation from our partners across the world from Africa, Asia and China that Europe should assume leadership in this effort and we are ready to do that,” European Commission Vice-President, Maros Sefcovic, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
German government spokeswoman, Ulrike Demmer said: “I can only reiterate the well-known position that the German government unequivocally supports the Paris climate agreement and is campaigning for it to be quickly implemented and hopes the USA remains committed to this agreement.”
In the US, Ed Markey, a Democratic senator, tweeted: “Pulling out of #ParisAgreement is a massive moral, economic & leadership failure for Trump admin. Loss of business, jobs, & intl standing.”
US President Donald Trump 