President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will no longer participate in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, the landmark United Nations treaty that many of us worked so hard to achieve. Trump is making a mistake that will have grave repercussions for his own country, and for the world.
Trump claims that he will try to renegotiate the deal reached in Paris, or craft a new one. But leaders from around the world have already hailed the agreement as a breakthrough for the fight against climate change, a victory for international cooperation and a boon to the global economy. That remains true today.
Among the many challenges we face today, climate change is unique in its global scale. It affects every element of life on this planet — from ecosystems and food production to cities and industrial supply chains. Viewing climate change as strictly an "environmental" problem misses the point entirely.