Jeremy Wallace, professor of China studies at Johns Hopkins University, rightly describes Donald Trump’s most recent climate change decision as “abdication” (Trump takes US out of Paris climate agreement for a second time, 27 December). It was in line with his professed view that climate change is a “hoax”, his dismantling of all the measures designed to combat it, and his encouragement of unrestrained development by the oil industry.
The article might also have mentioned the experience of the courts. As a retired judge (and visiting fellow of the LSE’s Grantham Institute), I have for some years observed the many climate change cases in courts in the US and around the world, involving governments and oil majors. I am aware of none in which there has been any serious challenge to the relevant science or the consequences of failure to act.
