India, Jan. 21 -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order soon after taking office on Monday directing the US' withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, weakening what has, over the past four years especially, become a global movement to combat the climate crisis.

This the second time Trump is ordering the US to abandon the Paris agreement - he did so in a 2017 order as well - and the process is expected to take a year. The last time, it took longer, and the US' withdrawal was to kick in a day after Joe Biden took office, which means it never happened.

Paris goals

The Paris agreement is aimed at keeping long-term global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels - the average between 1850 and 1900 - and...