The United States formally withdrew from the Paris accord on climate change on Wednesday, becoming the first nation to do so since the adoption of the agreement in 2015.

The move comes a year after the Trump administration announced it will begin formally withdrawing the U.S. from the agreement.

However, it is more than three years after President Donald Trump first announced his desire to pull out of the agreement.

"The United States notified the United Nations of its withdrawal one year ago, on November 4, 2019. Per the terms of the Agreement, that withdrawal takes effect exactly one year after delivery of notification. Today, November 4, 2020, the United States is no longer a Party to the Paris Agreement," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.

The result of the U.S. election, though, could still determine if the country will get back into the agreement.

Trump has shown no sign that he intends to re-join the deal if he gets re-elected for a second term.

His opponent, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, pledged that the U.S. would re-join the agreement as quickly as possible after he is sworn in should he win the election.

If Biden wins, he could submit a notice to the United Nations, after his inauguration in January, that the US intends to re-join the accord, and just 30 days after that, the U.S. would officially be back in.

The U.S., the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is the only one of the world's major superpowers and top greenhouse gas emitters which is not part of the agreement.

The agreement was designed with an aim of protecting the world from the worsening impacts of the climate crisis. Its goals are to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.

(With input from agencies)