Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Fusing subnational with national climate action is central to decarbonization: the case of the United States

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [3]; ;  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [2] more »;  [2];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [1] « less
  1. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
  2. Rocky Mountain Institute, Boulder, CO (United States)
  3. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC (United States)
  4. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC (United States); Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Leioa (Spain)
  5. CDP North America, New York, NY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Approaches that root national climate strategies in local actions will be essential for all countries as they develop new nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. The potential impact of climate action from non-national actors in delivering higher global ambition is significant. Sub-national action in the United States provides a test for how such actions can accelerate emissions reductions. We aggregated U.S. state, city, and business commitments within an integrated assessment model to assess how a national climate strategy can be built upon non-state actions. We find that existing commitments alone could reduce emissions 25% below 2005 levels by 2030, and that enhancing actions by these actors could reduce emissions up to 37%. We show how these actions can provide a stepped-up basis for additional federal action to reduce emissions by 49%—consistent with 1.5 °C. Our analysis demonstrates sub-national actions can lead to substantial reductions and support increased national action.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1808082
Report Number(s):
PNNL-ACT-SA--10500
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 11; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (16)

Aligning subnational climate actions for the new post-Paris climate regime journal April 2017
Reducing conflicts between climate policy and energy policy in the US: The important role of the states journal March 2006
Prove Paris was more than paper promises journal August 2017
Towards a new climate diplomacy journal May 2015
Effectiveness of state climate and energy policies in reducing power-sector CO2 emissions journal November 2017
A research roadmap for quantifying non-state and subnational climate mitigation action journal December 2018
The Paris Agreement: resolving the inconsistency between global goals and national contributions journal October 2016
National climate change mitigation legislation, strategy and targets: a global update journal July 2018
Reinvigorating International Climate Policy: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Nonstate Action journal November 2015
States on Steroids: The Intergovernmental Odyssey of American Climate Policy journal March 2008
Winning coalitions for climate policy journal September 2015
A roadmap for rapid decarbonization journal March 2017
“All Hands on Deck”: The Paris Agreement and Nonstate Climate Action journal August 2016
Challenges from State-Federal Interactions in US Climate Change Policy journal May 2011
How to eat an elephant: a bottom-up approach to climate policy journal January 2010
National climate change mitigation legislation, strategy and targets: a global update dataset January 2018

Similar Records

High-ambition climate action in all sectors can achieve a 65% greenhouse gas emissions reduction in the United States by 2035
Journal Article · Tue Jul 23 20:00:00 EDT 2024 · npj Climate Action · OSTI ID:2566841
The Impact of U.S. Re-engagement in Climate on the Paris Targets
Journal Article · Mon Aug 30 20:00:00 EDT 2021 · Earth's Future · OSTI ID:1864139
The contribution of Paris to limit global warming to 2 °C
Journal Article · Mon Nov 23 23:00:00 EST 2015 · Environmental Research Letters · OSTI ID:1240228

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
climate and earth system modelling
climate-change mitigation
climate-change policy
energy policy
socioeconomic scenarios