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- 120 states and regions in 32 countries that disclose their climate data to CDP have committed to cut emissions by 6.2% a year to 2050, 3.2 percentage points, or more than twice the commitments of national governments.
- sub-national governments are responding to the threat of climate change faster than their national governments and have already achieved average emissions reductions of 9%.
Global climate talks are under way in Poland, with the geopolitical environment for action to tackle global warming its least helpful for many years.
Leaders leaning towards climate scepticism are in power in the US, Brazil, Russia and Australia, to name a few of the most important, with Donald Trump leading the chorus in the face of overwhelming scientific consensus and a growing body of evidence for the harm that man-made climate change is causing.
It would be easy to get downhearted, but there are reasons for optimism, including the example being set by business – Shell’s recent announcement that it will set binding emissions targets and Maersk saying that it will be zero-carbon by 2050 highlight the leadership emerging from high-carbon sectors, while VW’s plan that by 2026 it will only make electric cars is also a stunning development.
Another, less high-profile trend may be just as important. While national governments’s commitment to climate action often seems less than convincing, states and regions across the world have committed to deep carbon emissions cuts.
A new report from CDP, the Climate Group and PwC, shows that 120 states and regions in 32 countries that disclose their climate data to CDP have committed to cut emissions by 6.2% a year to 2050, 3.2 percentage points, or more than twice the commitments of national governments. In fact, this rate of decarbonisation is just 0.2% away from the rate of change that is needed to align with international targets to limit warming to 2°C.
Kyra Appleby, Global Director, Cities, States and Regions at CDP, said: “States and regions are already feeling the physical impacts of climate change, with 40% now acting on both adaptation and mitigation. Many disclosing states and regions are strong on decarbonization, with those in the US, Germany, Mexico, Spain and UK having more ambitious targets to 2030 than their national governments.”
States, regions, cities, and businesses are calling for national governments to step up their ambition at the UN’s climate talks in Katowice, Poland.
Of the 120 state and regional governments, 40% already report actions to both mitigate and adapt to climate change – both are crucial, according to the latest science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to achieve the accelerated transition to a 1.5°C world that the IPCC says is required.
A total of 265 targets for emissions reductions, renewable energy and energy efficiency have been disclosed, 80% of them from governments in the Under2 Coalition, the largest global coalition of states and regions committed to tackling climate change.
The study also reveals that this year, Latin America had the second-largest level of disclosure after Europe, with 37 governments from Argentina, Brazil, Columbia Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico reporting their emissions and climate targets – an illustration of the increasing level of climate leadership from developing and emerging economy regions across the globe.
Leading the way are five states and regions that have committed to net-zero emissions targets. These are Catalonia in Spain, Helsinki-Uusimaa in Finland, Jämtland in Sweden, and Australia’s Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. They join more than 19 cities that have also set net-zero carbon targets by mid-century including London, Stockholm and Vancouver.
In Germany, six states from the Under2 Coalition, making up almost 70% of GDP and 65% of the population, have committed to more ambitious 2030 targets than the national government, an example of how states and regions can push national governments to act.
