The Paris Agreement was an important achievement for international politics, the global economy and the environment. The culmination of nearly five years of multilateral negotiations has resulted in an ambitious and universal climate agreement signed by the 196 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It was the largest signing of a binding international agreement and the largest meeting of heads of state and government in history. It will come into force in 2020 and replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol as an international instrument for reducing global emissions. While formal adherence to the agreement is simple, the biggest challenge for a Biden administration would be to present a new U.S. NDC, widely seen as ambitious and credible. These rules of transparency and accountability are similar to those set out in other international agreements. Although the system does not include financial sanctions, the requirements are intended to easily monitor the progress of individual nations and promote a sense of overall group pressure, discouraging any towing of feet among countries that might consider it. The Paris Agreement provides a sustainable framework that guides global efforts for decades to come. The aim is to create a continuous cycle that prevents countries from increasing their ambitions over time. In order to encourage increased ambitions, the agreement defines two interconnected processes, each with a five-year cycle. The first is a “comprehensive state of affairs” to assess the collective progress made in achieving the long-term goals of the agreement. The parties will then submit new NDCs “informed of the results of the global inventory.” On August 4, 2017, the Trump administration officially announced to the United Nations that the United States intends to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as soon as it is legally entitled to it.

[79] The formal declaration of resignation could not be submitted until after the agreement for the United States came into force on November 4, 2019 for a three-year date. [80] [81] On November 4, 2019, the U.S. government filed the withdrawal notice with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, custodian of the agreement, and formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement a year later, when the withdrawal came into effect. [82] After the November 2020 elections, President-elect Joe Biden promised to reinstate the United States in the Paris Agreement for his first day in office and renew the U.S. commitment to climate change mitigation. [83] On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement.