Shearman & Sterling Lawyers Write Article On Paris Climate Accord

Partner Robert Freedman (New York-Project Development & Finance), counsel Jeff Salinger (New York-Environmental) and law clerk Dillon Smith (New York-Corporate) wrote an article, titled “Paris Climate Accord Implementation: United States,” that was published by Law360 on March 11. The article discusses the impact of the Paris agreement in the United States.

The agreement, signed on December 12, 2015, by the United States and 194 other countries, seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate the anticipated effects of climate change. The authors note that because the agreement does not require Senate ratification and thus will have no binding effect on future presidents, subsequent administrations may retreat from the commitments made in Paris by the Obama administration. Despite these uncertainties, they say, “businesses in the U.S. seem poised to continue to act in a new and sustainable way, in part because businesses anticipate further constraints on emissions and