Two months after President Donald Trump announced the United States would abandon the 2015 global pact, the State Department confirmed it had informed the United Nations of its "intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement" - a process that will take at least until 2020.
According to the White House announcement, the United States will continue to participate in United Nations climate discussions including one in Bonn, Germany, in November aimed at fleshing out the Paris agreement.
The formal process for withdrawing takes another year, meaning the earliest the USA can actually leave the Paris deal is November 4, 2020 - one day after the next presidential election.
Still, the department describes its communication a "strong message" to the world.
"Such participation will include ongoing negotiations related to guidance for implementing the Paris Agreement".
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The tensions could, it said, "evolve into a localised conflict, or even the outbreak of war, with unthinkable repercussions".
Friday's statement reiterated that Trump was "open to re-engaging" in the pact if the U.S. could "identify terms that are more favorable to it, its businesses, its workers, its people, and its taxpayers".
In a statement, the department said that the United States will continue to participate in the U.N.'s climate change discussions throughout the three-year withdrawal process, adding that the US could re-engage in the accord if terms of the agreement improved. Tech groups rip Trump immigration plan Russian PM: New sanctions amount to "full-scale trade war" America's divisions: The greatest strategic vulnerability of our time MORE pledged to follow when the deal was coming together.
Under Obama, the USA agreed to reduce polluting emissions more than a quarter from 2005 levels by the year 2025.
No matter what the USA does, the Paris agreement remains in effect because enough other countries ratified it. The overwhelming majority of scientists say the burning of coal, oil and gas is causing the Earth's climate to change because of heat-trapping gases.
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