Trump ‘set to pull out of Paris climate deal’

US President Donald Trump is poised to pull his country out of the Paris climate accord, according to multiple US media reports, in a move that would profoundly undermine the landmark deal by nearly 200 countries to curtail global warning.

The deal was signed in 2015 by 195 out of the 197 countries in the world, with only Syria and Nicaragua abstaining.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he would announce his decision within the “next few days” shortly after a wave of reports that he intends to pull out of the deal. The reports follow Trump’s refusal to express support for global efforts to combat climate change at a G7 summit with European leaders last week.

The Trump administration has been divided on the issue, with Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruit and Trump adviser Steve Bannon among the hardline conservative who have been in favour of a US exit from the deal.

Axios, which first reported on Trump’s intention to quit the deal, said that the details of the departure were being ironed out by a team led by Pruitt.

Trump has previously called climate change “a hoax” devised by the Chinese government in order to make US manufacturing less competitive. He promised to “cancel” the Paris deal during the election campaign last year, warning that it was “bad for US business” because it allowed “foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use”.

His supporters argue the accord restricts America's ability to do what it wants with its energy resources - an important sector of the economy.

However, under the accord, countries set emission limits themselves - not an outside panel.

However, the US president faced immense pressure during his first foreign trip since taking office to uphold the pact from both world leaders and Pope Francis, who gave Trump a copy of his papal encyclical on climate change during their meeting at the Vatican.

German chancellor Angela Merkel said that the efforts to persuade Trump ere “very unsatisfactory”.

“Here we have the situation that six members, or even seven if you want to add the EU, stand against one,” she said.

The US ranks as the world’s second-largest carbon polluter after China, and initial estimates by universities and thinktanks suggest its withdrawal would add up to 3bn tonnes of extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year, raising the global temperature by 0.1C to 0.3C by the end of the century.

Environmentalists also fear the ripple effect Trump’s decision might have on other major polluters, such as China and India, who have reiterated their commitment to the accord but could be emboldened to walk away in the face of similar action by the US.