The Paris Agreement: Should the U.S. Stay or Should It Go?

The World Resources Institute outlines five primary reasons why the United States should maintain its participation in the Paris Agreement, asserting that withdrawal would harm U.S. diplomatic standing, business interests, and job growth in the clean energy sector. The author highlights that 71 percent of Americans support staying in the Agreement and notes that the U.S. clean energy workforce is expanding significantly faster than the coal sector. Furthermore, the document argues that remaining in the Agreement allows the U.S. to maintain leverage over transparency requirements and the development of the Agreement's rulebook.

• Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement would isolate the U.S. and weaken its diplomatic leverage on trade and security, particularly as climate change is now central to international relations with 194 signatories, including the European Union, China, and India.
• Remaining in the Agreement supports U.S. business interests, as over 600 companies and investors, including major energy firms like ExxonMobil, BP, and Royal Dutch Shell, have advocated for continued participation. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that national commitments under the Paris Agreement represent a $23 trillion investment opportunity by 2030.
• The U.S. clean energy sector is growing faster than the fossil fuel industry; in 2016, renewable energy employed approximately 800,000 Americans compared to 160,000 in the coal sector. Between 2015 and 2016, wind employment grew by 32 percent and the solar workforce grew by 25 percent.
• Participation in the Paris Agreement allows the U.S. to ensure fair rules and maintain accountability through transparency requirements for all countries; withdrawing would result in a loss of leverage on these key issues.
• Public opinion in the U.S. strongly favors remaining in the Agreement, with 71 percent of Americans supporting participation and 65 percent prioritizing alternative energy over fossil fuels.

APA

World Resources Institute (2017). The Paris Agreement: Should the U.S. Stay or Should It Go? https://www.wri.org/insights/paris-agreement-should-us-stay-or-should-it-go

Chicago

World Resources Institute. The Paris Agreement: Should the U.S. Stay or Should It Go? 2017. https://www.wri.org/insights/paris-agreement-should-us-stay-or-should-it-go.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=World Resources Institute |title=The Paris Agreement: Should the U.S. Stay or Should It Go? |date=17 April 2017 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/paris-agreement-should-us-stay-or-should-it-go |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{worldresourcesinstitute2017paris, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{The Paris Agreement: Should the U.S. Stay or Should It Go?}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2017}, month = apr, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/paris-agreement-should-us-stay-or-should-it-go}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }