Nicaragua says it is joining the Paris climate pact, leaving Trump's America alone outside with Syria

Daniel Ortega announced that Nicaragua will join the Paris climate agreement
(Image credit: Federico Parra/AFP/Getty Images)

When President Trump announced that he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris global climate agreement, there were only two other countries that had not signed on to the pact, designed to slow or reverse the effects of climate change: Syria and Nicaragua. On Wednesday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said his country will sign the agreement "soon." Nicaragua did not sign in 2015 on the grounds that it did not require deep enough emission cuts from wealthy nations, but Ortega said on state TV Wednesday that the country has decided to sign the accord now out of solidarity with "this large amount of countries that are the first victims, that are already victims, and that are going to continue suffering the [effects] of these disasters," namely countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.