Trump Administration Is Said Set to Notify UN of Paris Withdraw

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is set to deliver formal notice to the United Nations outlining the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, two people familiar with the decision said. 

The people asked not to be identified discussing the action before it was announced, which could come as soon as Friday. The terms could include a caveat to allow the U.S. to change the terms of the pact and remain, according to one of the people.

The formal filing by the State Department would kick off a withdrawal process that will take years to unfold. Under terms of the deal, the earliest the U.S. can formally remove itself from the accord is in November 2020 -- just after the next presidential election.

President Donald Trump said in June that the U.S. would leave the Paris climate pact, saying it favors other nations at the expense of American workers. That decision drew condemnation from foreign leaders, business executives and Democratic lawmakers. 

Trump, who has dubbed climate change a “hoax,” campaigned on the pledge to exit the 2015 pact, which was a top priority of former President Barack Obama. White House legal advisers had warned that staying in the accord could undercut Trump's efforts to rescind environmental rules cutting carbon emissions from power-plants and setting fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.

The White House referred requests to comment to the State Department which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Politico first reported the move.

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy

To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Natter in Washington at anatter5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Drajem at mdrajem@bloomberg.net, Jon Morgan