When the Trump administration announced plans to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord in June, it could point to fellow world superpowers and climate holdouts Nicaragua and Syria as proof that it was not totally isolating the United States internationally.
But five months later, it really is America versus the rest of the world. In October, Nicaragua (whose issue with the pact was that it didn’t go far enough) signed on. And on Tuesday, Syria followed suit.
The civil war–torn nation announced its decision at the United Nations climate summit in Bonn, Germany. It’s not clear what circumstances had changed to ease Syria’s entry, but, as Vox notes, sanctions related to the war have previously deterred the country’s representatives from traveling to international climate meetings.
The White House reacted to the news by recycling the sentiments it offered when the Nicaragua news broke.
“As the president previously stated, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favorable for our country,” it said in a statement. (As has been made clear many times, this argument is nonsensical.)
The United States can’t actually withdraw from the deal until 2020, though, so there’s still time to avoid complete and utter embarrassment.
