; Whereas the Paris Agreement received consensus approval from the more than 190 delegates to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of Parties; Whereas the Paris Agreement reached its thresholds for entry into force faster than any other multilateral international agreement of comparable size and scope; Whereas, as of the date of introduction of this resolution, 127 of the 197 parties to the Paris Agreement, representing 81.4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, have officially joined the agreement, demonstrating the urgency and importance the global community places on addressing climate change; Whereas the cost of inaction on climate change will have devastating impacts to the United States economy, costing billions of dollars in lost GDP; Whereas extreme weather, intensified by climate change, has already cost United States taxpayers billions of dollars each year in recovery efforts, and will continue to increase if climate change is left unaddressed; Whereas decreased GDP and increased costs of infrastructure repairs and other recovery efforts will significantly increase budget deficits and undermine the fiscal stability of the United States; Whereas climate change will have devastating public health implications, including increased rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases, especially in vulnerable populations like children and low-income communities, the spread of infectious diseases, risks to food and water supplies, and increased premature deaths; Whereas the emissions reductions pledged by the United States under the Paris Agreement may save nearly 300,000 lives in the United States by 2030 as a result of positive health outcomes corresponding to lower air pollution