Trade policy at the service of climate policy.

Summary While it is a step forward, the Paris Agreement, which entered into force in November 2016, raises a number of questions, particularly with regard to "common but differentiated" responsibility - which translates into widely varying commitments from one signatory country to another - but also concerning the articulation between climate policy and trade policy. To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, would a trade policy be better than a climate policy? If not, could it encourage more ambitious commitments to reduce emissions? This Letter shows, based on simulations of a dynamic model of the world economy developed at CEPII, that trade policy alone is not a good tool to limit CO2 emissions, but that it can complement a more ambitious policy.