U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to withdraw from the landmark Paris climate accord for a second time has created a leadership vacuum from which other countries could benefit, the top U.N. climate official said.

Trump signed an executive order on Monday withdrawing the United States from the world's largest coordinated effort to combat rising temperatures. He also declared a "national energy emergency" to roll back many Biden-era environmental regulations and vowed to boost fossil fuel production.

The widely expected order to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement dealt a major blow to global efforts to protect the environment, following a similar move by the first Trump administration in 2017.

The 2015 Paris Agreement is a framework that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to "well below 2 degrees Celsius, and preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels" in the long term.

“We’ve been in this before,” UN climate change executive secretary Simon Steel said during a panel discussion hosted by CNBC at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.

Steele said a key difference between Trump's 2017 decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and Monday's executive order is that in the eight years in between, there has been "significant momentum" to combat global warming.

"The world is undergoing an unstoppable energy transition. Last year alone, investment in this transition exceeded $2 trillion, compared with $1 trillion in fossil fuels, so the signal is absolutely clear," Sti I said.

"Anyone who steps back from this important forward momentum creates a vacuum that others will fill and benefit from. So I think within 14 hours of this statement we will find ourselves in this position." kind of framed background," he added.

Climate scientists condemned Trump's order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, noting that the commitment came just weeks after U.S. and global science agencies confirmed that the planet will experience its hottest year on record in 2024.

Trump, who has called the climate crisis "one of the biggest hoaxes," said on Monday he intends to boost oil and gas production during his second four-year term.

"We're going to have drills, baby, drills," Trump said in his inauguration speech, also promising a new era of U.S. oil and gas exploration.

European insurance giants play down the immediate impact of Trump's climate policy rollback.

"It's difficult, but this gentleman has done it before and the world knows it," Allianz CEO Oliver Bate told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Tuesday in Davos. It has to improve itself."

"We have reached the limits of our planet and everyone knows it. Maybe it's time to talk less and do more. At least that's what our industry is trying to do," he added.

Zurich Insurance CEO Mario Greco dismissed the idea that Trump’s push to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement constituted a major political event.

"I think we have to admit that the Paris Agreement has not achieved any of its intended plans, ambitions and goals," Greco said on Tuesday.

"It's true that we're looking at other ways to achieve much-needed cooling. I mean technology needs to help. Without technology, we're not going to make the planet any colder than it is now or will be in the future." So no, I don't think it's a A big deal," he added.