Syria announced plans to sign the Paris climate accord on Nov. 7, according to The New York Times. With Nicaragua signing the Paris Agreement in October, this leaves the U.S. as the only country to oppose the accord.
The announcement came from a Syrian delegate during the current U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, where more than 200 countries were represented.
President Trump declared in June that the U.S. would withdraw from the emissions-cutting deal. However, due to the terms of the agreement, the U.S. cannot fully withdraw until 2020.
The New York Times reports:
It is not clear what has changed, and the Syrian delegate who spoke Tuesday did not offer an explanation for the government’s decision.
Syria has not yet submitted targets for cutting greenhouse gases. Syria produces only a tiny fraction of global emissions, but every country that is party to the accord, including poverty-stricken and war-torn nations and tiny islands, has produced a plan for cutting carbon output.
“With Syria’s decision, the relentless commitment of the global community to deliver on Paris is more evident than ever,” said Paula Caballero, director of the climate change program at the World Resources Institute. “The U.S.’s stark isolation should give Trump reason to reconsider his ill-advised announcement and join the rest of the world in tackling climate change.”
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