By Morgan Clendaniel, Fast Company

Tomorrow, the day after Election Day, the United States will end its participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change. The technical rules of the treaty hold that a country can only withdraw from the agreement one year after announcing its intention to do so. The Trump administration took that first, fateful step on November 4, 2019.

Because Joe Biden has strongly advocated for returning the U.S. to the Paris accord, the election marks a forking of two possible climate futures. In one of these futures, the U.S. stays on the outside of the international consensus on climate, while China, Europe, and the rest of the world make bolder pledges on carbon reduction and bigger investments in clean technology. In the other, America’s withdrawal is just a brief truancy before the U.S., led by a new administration, rejoins the world in late January, working hard to play catch-up after four lost years.

The Paris Agreement is as much a symbol as it is a treaty: it is not bold enough to prevent the worst possible climate outcomes, but it does represent the start of a global understanding of the need for collective action on climate change, something to serve as the basis for future action. After today, we’ll know whether that action will take place with the U.S.—or in spite of us. Read more here.

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