The U.S. Rejoins the Paris Climate Agreement

On Wednesday, January 20, 2021, in one of his first acts as president, President Biden signed a letter to the United Nations recommitting the U.S. to the Paris climate agreement. The U.S. officially left the Paris agreement in November 2020. The onboarding will take 30 days, with the U.S. officially back in the pact on February 19, 2021. The U.S. remains the only country to have left the Paris agreement.

The Paris agreement began in 2015 when 195 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change. Climate change is responsible for not only higher air temperatures, but also stronger storms, rising sea levels, drought, and food shortages. However, former President Trump argued that the Paris agreement was bad for the U.S. economy and withdrew the U.S. at the earliest date possible, which was November 2020. President Biden had pledged during his campaign to rejoin the Paris agreement.

The effects of carbon pollution and climate change affect everyone but hit poor and marginalized populations hardest. Ambient air pollution, largely from carbon, is responsible for the deaths of around 4.2 million people per year worldwide. In the U.S., pollution from oil and gas facilities disproportionately affect Black populations and other peoples of color. In terms of climate change, people with lower incomes, both within the U.S. and internationally, suffer increased exposure to climate hazards, are more susceptible to damage from those hazards, and are less able to cope with and recover from those changes.

The U.S. is the second-largest producer of carbon emissions in the world and has released more emissions over time than any other country. President Biden has promised to make the U.S. carbon-neutral by 2050. This is an ambitious goal, despite the fact that carbon emissions from energy production have been declining with the phasing-out of coal over the last few decades. Transportation is currently responsible for the largest share of carbon emissions in the U.S., and there are industrial sources as well.

There are several ways governments can act to mitigate climate change. One way to encourage adoption of renewable sources is through subsidies. Governments, including the U.S., have incentivized fossil fuels for years. Although investment in renewable energy sources has increased over the last 15 years, the industries are still immature and need continued investment to improve and grow. Governments can also use their regulatory power to limit emissions from industry and transportation, although these actions may be politically controversial, and enforcement litigation is slow and expensive.

Despite the challenges of meeting these climate goals, acting quickly to mitigate climate change and reduce air pollution is imperative. These efforts are pressing because climate change continues to accelerate, harming primarily the people least able to rebound from it. As one U.N. report put it, “It wouldn’t be wrong to speculate that international climate change mitigation efforts would have been more vigorous if the countries across the world were more equal.”