Read a summary of this teleconference.

A Situation Briefing teleconference on the implications of a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement.

On June 1, 2017, U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Accord. The comprehensive global pact to fight climate change was agreed to by 195 countries in 2015 and aims to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. Only two countries did not sign on: Syria and Nicaragua (the latter because the country argues that the pact was not tough enough to fight climate change). The process of withdrawing could take up to four years.

What does a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord mean for the future of the agreement? Will the agreement survive without the United States?

Listen to the full conversation below:

Featuring:

Ms. Samantha Gross, Fellow, Foreign Policy, Energy Security, and Climate Initiative, Brookings Institution

Samantha Gross is a fellow in the Cross-Brookings Initiative on Energy and Climate. Read more.

Dr. Benjamin Lee Preston, Director, Infrastructure Resilience and Environmental Policy Program, and Senior Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation

Benjamin Preston is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, and director of RAND's Infrastructure Resilience and Environmental Policy Program. Read more.

Moderator:

Mr. Jesse Medlong, Environmental Lawyer and Litigator, DLA Piper

Jesse Medlong is a lawyer at the global law firm DLA Piper. He served on a team of lawyers representing Georgia at UN climate negotiations, including COP21. Read more.