US Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

Question A:

Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/putting-america-first-in-international-environmental-agreements/
'In recent years, the United States has purported to join international agreements and initiatives that do not reflect our country's values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives... The United States Ambassador to the United Nations shall immediately submit formal written notification of the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.'

US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement will deliver a measurable boost to the country's economic growth over the next four years.

Responses

© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
20%
0%
9%
39%
30%
2%
0%

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
12%
50%
36%
2%
0%

Question B:

US withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement will have a measurably negative impact on international progress on mitigation of global warming.

Responses

© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
20%
0%
0%
2%
9%
37%
33%

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

© 2025. Kent A. Clark Center for Global Markets.
0%
4%
9%
41%
47%

Question A Participant Responses

Participant
University
Vote
Confidence
Bio/Vote History
Allen
Franklin Allen
Imperial College London
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
If anything, withdrawal from the Paris agreement is likely to have a negative effect on long term US growth. This withdrawal will put green US industries significantly behind global competitors and it will be difficult for them to catch up going forward.
Antras
Pol Antras
Harvard
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Bénassy-Quéré
Agnès Bénassy-Quéré
Paris School of Economics
Uncertain
10
Bio/Vote History
With current policies, world GDP could be reduced by 15% in 2030, according to NGFS, against 8.5% in a NetZero2050 scenario. Given its contribution to CO2 emissions, and minor cost of the transition compared to warming, the US would in fact gain from implementing Paris agreement.
-see background information here
Blanchard
Olivier Blanchard
Peterson Institute
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
sign is probably right. But "measurable" may be excessive
Blundell
Richard William Blundell
University College London Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Botticini
Maristella Botticini
Bocconi
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
Carletti
Elena Carletti
Bocconi
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Danthine
Jean-Pierre Danthine
Paris School of Economics
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
The constraints imposed by the Paris Agreement are not growth-negative, certainly not in the medium run but probably not in the short-run either (except possibly via the cost of energy)
Eeckhout
Jan Eeckhout
UPF Barcelona
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Freixas
Xavier Freixas
Barcelona GSE Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Fuchs-Schündeln
Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Galí
Jordi Galí
Barcelona GSE
Uncertain
6
Bio/Vote History
Garicano
Luis Garicano
LSE Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Gorodnichenko
Yuriy Gorodnichenko
Berkeley Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Griffith
Rachel Griffith
University of Manchester
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Guerrieri
Veronica Guerrieri
Chicago Booth
Strongly Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Guiso
Luigi Guiso
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance
Uncertain
8
Bio/Vote History
Guriev
Sergei Guriev
Sciences Po
Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Honohan
Patrick Honohan
Trinity College Dublin
Disagree
1
Bio/Vote History
As part of a package which includes abandonment of the Biden IRA measures, net impact on growth of withdrawal from Paris Agreement not clearly positive.
Javorcik
Beata Javorcik
University of Oxford Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Kőszegi
Botond Kőszegi
Central European University Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Krahnen
Jan Pieter Krahnen
Goethe University Frankfurt
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Since the effect of climate policy oN GDP was not clear in the first place, it remains open whether a reduction of climate change-oriented public policy will eventually affect GDP.
La Ferrara
Eliana La Ferrara
Harvard Kennedy
Uncertain
3
Bio/Vote History
Leuz
Christian Leuz
Chicago Booth
Disagree
3
Bio/Vote History
Mayer
Thierry Mayer
Sciences-Po
Strongly Disagree
3
Bio/Vote History
Meghir
Costas Meghir
Yale
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Pagano
Marco Pagano
Università di Napoli Federico II
Uncertain
7
Bio/Vote History
Pastor
Lubos Pastor
Chicago Booth
Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
Portes
Richard Portes
London Business School
Strongly Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Prendergast
Canice Prendergast
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
6
Bio/Vote History
Propper
Carol Propper
Imperial College London
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Rasul
Imran Rasul
University College London Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Reichlin
Lucrezia Reichlin
London Business School
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Reis
Ricardo Reis
London School of Economics
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
Repullo
Rafael Repullo
CEMFI
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Rey
Hélène Rey
London Business School
Strongly Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Schoar
Antoinette Schoar
MIT Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Storesletten
Kjetil Storesletten
University of Minnesota
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Sturm
Daniel Sturm
London School of Economics
Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Renewables are rapidly getting cheaper and have likely passed cost parity with fossil fuels already. Furthermore, the uncertainly caused by rapid changes to energy policy will delay investments and increase long-run costs.
Tenreyro
Silvana Tenreyro
LSE
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Van der Ploeg
Rick Van der Ploeg
Oxford
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
Vickers
John Vickers
Oxford
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Voth
Hans-Joachim Voth
University of Zurich
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
not clear how harmful existing policies were
Whelan
Karl Whelan
University College Dublin Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Wyplosz
Charles Wyplosz
The Graduate Institute Geneva
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History

Question B Participant Responses

Participant
University
Vote
Confidence
Bio/Vote History
Allen
Franklin Allen
Imperial College London
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Already Argentina and Indonesia are talking about also withdrawing. Many other countries, while not withdrawing, may reduce their efforts.
Antras
Pol Antras
Harvard
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Bénassy-Quéré
Agnès Bénassy-Quéré
Paris School of Economics
Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
IRA was already behind the curve, but now there is a risk of discouraging other countries from making the required investments.
Blanchard
Olivier Blanchard
Peterson Institute
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
for mechanical reasons, and I do not see other countries doing sufficiently more to offset.
Blundell
Richard William Blundell
University College London Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Botticini
Maristella Botticini
Bocconi
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Carletti
Elena Carletti
Bocconi
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Danthine
Jean-Pierre Danthine
Paris School of Economics
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
The largest economy must be an integral part of the indispensable multilateral efforts to address a global challenge if these efforts are to be fully effective
Eeckhout
Jan Eeckhout
UPF Barcelona
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Freixas
Xavier Freixas
Barcelona GSE Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Fuchs-Schündeln
Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Galí
Jordi Galí
Barcelona GSE
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Garicano
Luis Garicano
LSE Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Gorodnichenko
Yuriy Gorodnichenko
Berkeley Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Griffith
Rachel Griffith
University of Manchester
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Guerrieri
Veronica Guerrieri
Chicago Booth
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Guiso
Luigi Guiso
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance
Strongly Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Guriev
Sergei Guriev
Sciences Po
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Honohan
Patrick Honohan
Trinity College Dublin
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Javorcik
Beata Javorcik
University of Oxford Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Kőszegi
Botond Kőszegi
Central European University Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Krahnen
Jan Pieter Krahnen
Goethe University Frankfurt
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
The US retreat from climate accord will arouse critique and counter movements in some parts of the world. These movements may well help to shape the climate policy in a more effective way. On balance, the prospect is uncertain, depending on two competing effects.
La Ferrara
Eliana La Ferrara
Harvard Kennedy
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Leuz
Christian Leuz
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
Although the US is the largest emitter, its withdrawal alone has limited impact on the world's progress re climate mitigation, unless it serves as an impetus for other countries to give up their efforts as well.
Mayer
Thierry Mayer
Sciences-Po
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Meghir
Costas Meghir
Yale
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Pagano
Marco Pagano
Università di Napoli Federico II
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Pastor
Lubos Pastor
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
9
Bio/Vote History
Even before withdrawing, the U.S. was not on track to meet its Paris goals. There is no enforcement mechanism to punish countries that violate Paris commitments. Global cooperation is hard to achieve in practice. Subsidizing R&D investment seems more promising.
-see background information here
Portes
Richard Portes
London Business School
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Prendergast
Canice Prendergast
Chicago Booth
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Propper
Carol Propper
Imperial College London
Strongly Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Rasul
Imran Rasul
University College London Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Reichlin
Lucrezia Reichlin
London Business School
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Reis
Ricardo Reis
London School of Economics
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Repullo
Rafael Repullo
CEMFI
Strongly Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Rey
Hélène Rey
London Business School
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Schoar
Antoinette Schoar
MIT Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Storesletten
Kjetil Storesletten
University of Minnesota
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Sturm
Daniel Sturm
London School of Economics
Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Tenreyro
Silvana Tenreyro
LSE
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Van der Ploeg
Rick Van der Ploeg
Oxford
Strongly Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Vickers
John Vickers
Oxford
Strongly Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Voth
Hans-Joachim Voth
University of Zurich
Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
these accords are a dead-end
Whelan
Karl Whelan
University College Dublin Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Wyplosz
Charles Wyplosz
The Graduate Institute Geneva
Uncertain
4
Bio/Vote History
I am not sure that the Paris agreement is serving a useful purpose. Its most direct role is to minimize the crucial importance of a carbon tax.