The agreement, signed on December 12, 2015, by the United States and 194 other countries, seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to mitigate the anticipated effects of climate change. The authors note that because the agreement does not require Senate ratification and thus will have no binding effect on future presidents, subsequent administrations may retreat from the commitments made in Paris by the Obama administration. Despite these uncertainties, they say, “businesses in the U.S. seem poised to continue to act in a new and sustainable way, in part because businesses anticipate further constraints on emissions and because corporate social responsibility continues to grow in importance to consumers, shareholders and investors.”