Has the Paris Climate Agreement Changed Corporate Behavior?

This is a joint venture between the Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research, the World Trade Institute, and the Wyss Academy, all three from the University of Bern.

The Paris Agreement marked a key moment in climate cooperation, uniting countries towards a common goal. However, achieving this target is largely dependent on the behaviour of nonstate actors because companies are responsible for the lion’s share of greenhouse gas emissions. Existing research on the effects of international organizations on nonstate actors is mixed, and little focuses on climate agreements. In this paper, we examine whether the Paris Agreement changed corporate behaviour among “convertible” industries, focusing on automobile manufacturers. Using five types of primary source materials such as earnings call transcripts and production reports, we find quite limited evidence that the Paris Agreement shifted business strategy in the car sector. Overall, the evidence should lead dispassionate analysts to revise downward their beliefs about Paris impact. Still, the Paris Agreement might have created an enabling environment for more ambitious domestic policy in the long run.

About the speaker
Jeff Colgan is the Richard Holbrooke Professor of Political Science at Brown University and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute of Public and International Affairs. His research focuses on international order, especially as it relates to energy and the environment. His recent book Partial Hegemony: Oil Politics and International Order (Oxford University Press, 2021) investigates how countries and other actors have been able to sustain meaningful international governing arrangements to solve tough problems, and uses that history to consider climate change. His previous book was Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

His research has been published in International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, World Politics, Foreign Affairs, and other journals. Prior to Brown University, he worked at McKinsey & Company, the World Bank, and American University. Professor Colgan has a Bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from McMaster University, a Master’s in Public Policy from UC Berkeley, and a PhD from Princeton University.

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