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The George Washington University's Alliance for a Sustainable Future joined the Embassy of France to cohost "Paris Climate Agreement 10 Years On: What's Changed, What's Next?" last month, a summit exploring global progress and setbacks since the legally binding international treaty was signed by 195 countries in 2015. The event also marked the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, which had ended a few days before.

"Ten years after the Paris Climate Agreement, the science is clear and the stakes are growing ever higher," GW President Ellen M. Granberg said at the summit, pointing out that the World Meteorological Organization records nine of the 10 hottest years on record as occurring in the last decade, and that by 2050 the world's population is likely to reach nearly 10 billion, all of whom will require food, energy and water.

The launching of the Alliance at GW in 2023 reflects the demand for international, multidisciplinary solutions to these complex challenges, Granberg said. And its impact is concrete: Students and faculty from the Alliance and from GW's Sustainability Research Institute were on the ground at COP30, "working alongside local leaders to shape the next phase of climate policy."

"Our students are acutely aware that the planet is at risk and that they need to be change agents, and I am so proud of all they are doing to make a difference…They represent the essential role universities play in advancing solutions and GW's commitment to scholarship that leads to action."

Hundreds of diplomats, scientists, experts and on-the-ground leaders, including GW students, faculty and staff, gathered at the summit to assess the decade and discuss what's been accomplished and what lies ahead.

The adoption of the Paris Agreement "was universally acknowledged as a major diplomatic breakthrough [and] was considered an example of what cultural multilateralism can achieve at its best," French Ambassador Laurent Bili said, recalling "the enthusiasm and positive energy that was felt at the time."

In the years since, progress has been mixed. Local and international actions have likely averted the most pessimistic climate change scenarios, and Bili pointed to "spectacular progress in the areas of affordability and renewables." But the international community is likely to fall short of the agreement's central goal-limiting average global temperature increase to under two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels-making continued action urgent and necessary.

"Inaction is not an option, and I'm glad that we have students in the audience who are ready to take on the fight for a sustainable future," Bili said.

The United States' withdrawal from the agreement (which would be echoed, weeks after the summit, by withdrawal from the bedrock 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and President Donald Trump's denial of climate change hovered over the daylong conversation. With China and India, the U.S. is one of the planet's top three greenhouse gas emitters and therefore one of the most important players in meaningful carbon reduction.

But speakers at a morning panel moderated by Alliance executive director Frank Sesno noted remarkable progress despite wavering American commitment. The science around global carbon monitoring has improved, climate models are more refined, and some steps toward fossil fuel reduction have meaningfully progressed, including increased global use of renewable energy like wind and solar, decreased costs for these energy sources and a widening market share for electric vehicles. More and more, climate adaptation is being viewed "not just as a cost but as an investment that in the long term actually pays off," said panelist Pierre Gentine, professor of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University.

In the U.S., local jurisdictions now stand on the front line of that investment. Speakers Charles Allen, Ward 6 member for the D.C. City Council, and Serena C. McIlwain, Maryland state secretary of the environment, discussed the practical impact of the Paris agreement in their regions and the ambitious climate agendas they and their colleagues have championed in the capital region.

Locally, the "economic momentum" of adaptation "is undeniable," McIlwain said, noting that dozens of companies have launched clean energy operations in Maryland from which thousands of jobs are projected to develop. "Clean means the economy wins too."

In a keynote address, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the only elected federal official to attend COP30, pointed to the cozy relationship between the Trump administration and the fossil fuel industry as jeopardizing climate adaptation and, by extension, American lives. Despite a coordinated public disinformation campaign, however, public opinion continues to be in favor of action on climate change. Whitehouse pointed to polling that showed 74% of respondents supported making corporations pay for harm caused by their pollution, with just 10% opposed.

"So here's a political issue that has a 64% positive margin for us-what's not to like about that?" he said. "But in order to animate that, we've got to take advantage of it. We've got to make sure we are making that argument loud and clear and without hesitancy."

GW Launches Bold, University-Wide Alliance for a Sustainable Future