People all over the world are enduring more unprecedented effects of climate change, from debilitating winter storms in Texas to deadly glacier bursts in India. Without much greater action to stabilize our climate, these extreme effects will only get worse.

Curbing the toll on lives and livelihoods is justification enough, but there are many other reasons for countries to recommit to the Paris climate agreement, the historic action plan they all signed up to just over five years ago. It’s essential for igniting — and protecting — progress across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including for human health, ecosystems, and security. It also provides a shared blueprint for planetary sustainability and resilience as governments begin to implement economic recovery plans in light of COVID-19. Last year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres proposed six climate-related actions to recover better from the pandemic, including promoting sustainable green jobs and green economies.

With the United States back in the Paris Agreement after its formal withdrawal late in 2020, the Biden administration is aggressively pursuing climate action. As Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry put it recently, a “zero emissions future offers huge opportunity for business, for clean, green jobs and economic growth.”

Here are six ways that achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement can drive economic growth:

  1. Economic benefits up to $616 trillion by 2100. 
  2. Millions of new jobs. 
  3. Fewer costly climate-related disasters.
  4. Less air pollution. 
  5. Immense energy savings.
  6. Fewer investment risks.

Read the full article about the goals of the Paris Agreement by Evelin Toth and Fatimah Alyas at the United Nations Foundation.