A new report finds that while actions by cities, states, regions and businesses can accelerate climate action, more must be done at all levels of government and in all areas of society to hold the global average temperature increase to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as agreed by the international community under the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The report has been published ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit to be held in San Francisco from September 12-14, co-chaired by the UN’s top climate change official Patricia Espinosa. The Summit is designed to galvanize new climate action commitments by multiple stakeholders and to demonstrate progress made since the Paris Agreement.
“The potential of these commitments to help the world avoid dangerous climate change is clear – the key is now to ensure that these commitments are really implemented,” said Angel Hsu, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Yale-NUS College and Director of Data-Driven Yale.
“What our report shows is many actors are signing up to take actions, but their ambition and ability to move us faster and closer to reach the Paris climate goals in time is limited. What’s needed now is the financing, policies, and support to urgently realize these efforts.”, added Angel.
Key findings from the report include:
• By 2030, global greenhouse gas emissions could be 1.5 to 2.2 GtCO2e/year lower if individual commitments from nearly 6,000 cities, states and regions, and over 2,000 companies are fully implemented, compared to what would be achieved through national policies that are currently underway. This potential reduction amounts to roughly double Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.
• In the United States, the full implementation of the reported and quantified individual city, region, and company commitments could provide at least half (between 670 and 810MtCO2e/year in 2030) of the emissions reductions needed to meet America’s Paris pledge.
• In the European Union, city, region and company commitments could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 230 to 445 MtCO2e/year, roughly equivalent to Italy’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2016. In China, these actions could reduce emissions by up to 155 MtCO2e, roughly equivalent to what the country’s industrial processes generated in 2014.
The report finds global greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 would be close to one third lower than what will be achieved through national politics alone if international cooperative initiatives such as the Under2Coalition and Global Covenant of Mayors meet their goals on top of existing climate action.
Read and download the report Global climate action from cities, regions and businesses
Original source: UNFCCC
Published on 31 August 2018
