Can U.S. States and cities compensate for President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement?
Abstract
The French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) invited me to participate in a conference to debate the main issues surrounding the COP24 in Poland. My panel included the French Ambassador to the UN Climate Negotiations, an EU negotiator from the Directorate-General for Climate Action at the European Commission, as well as the President of La Fabrique de la Cité (a think tank on urban studies). My presentation, based on my doctoral research, focused on how American sub-national and non-state actors are organizing themselves into national networks in defiance of the Trump administration in order to continue implementing climate policies. While US sub-national and non-state actors are making many valuable contributions to implement their climate pledges, these cannot fully compensate for Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, which means that Obama’s former climate targets will probably not be met.