Year-ender: Top climate-related stories of 2019
World leaders condemn US decision to quit climate deal
US President Donald Trump faced a chorus of global disapproval after his decision to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, with allies and rivals uniting to accuse him of failing future generations.
The Trump administration notified the international community in November of 2019 that it plans to officially withdraw from the historic Paris climate accord, a move that will take effect one year later, on Nov 4, 2020.
Following Trump's announcement, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy put out a joint statement in which they pledged to implement the Paris climate agreement notwithstanding the withdrawal of the US.
The three leaders called on their allies to speed up efforts to combat climate change and promise to do more to help developing countries adapt.
The Paris agreement, which has now been signed by nearly every nation on earth, seeks to limit global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius, with each country setting its own nonbinding emission targets and reporting on its progress to reduce them.