CFR Education: The Paris Agreement
Provided by: Council on Foreign Relations|Published on: September 12, 2023|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Science, Civics, History
Authors: CFR Education
Location: Asia, Earth, Europe, North America, North America > United States
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this section, students will learn about the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, how this is different from previous climate agreements, and what progress countries have made towards their goals.
- This is the ninth section of the World 101 Climate Change module and includes interactive graphs, colorful images, a linked lesson plan for the policy-related sections of the module, and a discussion guide for higher education classes.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This lesson has many terms that may be new for students but it does an excellent job of providing the definitions, either in context or by clicking the terms.
- Students get to see the timeline of the Paris Agreement.
Additional Prerequisites
- At the top of the article, there are links for the lesson plan and a discussion guide for higher education. Question 6 in the discussion guide pertains to this article in particular, however the rest of the resources are for classrooms using other sections as well.
- Students should understand what climate change is, that human-produced carbon emissions are contributing to climate change, and that these emissions are primarily due to the use of fossil fuels.
Differentiation
- Students in civics classes can look at their own country's nationally determined contributions and discuss how effective they seem to be and/or what they are lacking. These students can also discuss the ways in which a government can ensure that these measures take place, including what kinds of regulations and/or new laws would need to be enacted.
- Students can propose nationally determined contributions for their own country, looking at the many climate solutions available from this table.
- Students in math classes can download the data, interpret the graphs provided, and answer questions about them.
This article explains what the Paris Agreement is, why it is important, and the shortcomings of the agreement. The article also discusses the U.S. involvement in the agreement. The article is a good example of what world leaders are trying to do to combat climate change and why these actions are likely not enough. Climate change is briefly explained in the article but it would be helpful for students to have a general understanding of the topic before reading the article. The page does define key vocabulary words and links to related resources. This information presented is accurate and this resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
