Upon its signing in 2015, the Paris Agreement was hailed as a landmark pact that unified 196 nations throughout the world in combatting climate change. The accord in part aims to limit the rise in global average temperature this century to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It was seen as a decisive step towards fighting what Ban Ki-moon, United Nations secretary-general, called “one of the most crucial problems on earth.”
Most companies and cities have been engaged in their own journeys, encouraged and informed by a number of reasons and stakeholders.
But in light of the U.S.’s recent decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, some are wondering what kind of impact, if any, it will have on businesses and developers who have already pledged to keep their assets carbon-neutral.
The answer, says David Pogue, global director of corporate responsibility at CBRE, is that it will likely do little to “derail the momentum” created by the Paris Agreement, and pre-existing efforts by the U.S. Green Building Council and others, to encourage energy efficiency.
“Most companies and cities have been engaged in their own journeys, encouraged and informed by a number of reasons and stakeholders,” says Pogue. “Those have not changed.”
And with cities like San Francisco and Chicago leading the charge in developing energy-efficient buildings and public facilities—along with the appeal of LEED-certified properties to investors—individual green mandates and efforts will continue to grow unabated.