President Donald Trump has signed an executive order pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement just hours after taking office.

The historic Agreement was originally signed in 2015 under the Obama administration and saw 189 countries make promises to reduce their carbon emissions in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.

Withdrawing from the Agreement a second time via an executive order, Trump described the Agreement as a “rip-off”.

“The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity,” he added.

The withdrawal places the US alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries in the world that are not signed up.

The Paris Agreement has become an ideological sticking point for both the Republican and Democrat parties. The Democrats want to support it in a bid to tackle rapidly intensifying climate change, while the Republicans are concerned about the short-term impact that such policies could have on the domestic jobs market.

Trump...