2020 Climate Action Update

2020 was a major benchmark year for climate goals, with national governments, cities, states, corporations, higher education institutions, faith-based groups, and investors aiming to reach initial targets by this year. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing to assess progress towards climate mitigation and adaptation goals in the United States as we reached the last few weeks of 2020. What climate goals have been met and where did they fall short? What challenges emerged and what innovations and policies helped?

The briefing featured a presentation of two major reports, We Are Still In to Deliver America’s Pledge: A Retrospective and Delivering on America’s Pledge: Achieving Climate Progress in 2020. Together, the reports cover progress made by states, cities, and businesses to reduce emissions since 2017 and explore the implications of COVID-19 on reaching 2030 emission reduction goals.

The presentation was followed by a moderated discussion focused on what Congress can learn from the policies and on-the-ground projects that have driven emission reductions in recent years.

As we look to the start of the 117th Congress, this briefing provided a succinct overview of U.S. climate actions to date and previewed critical next steps needed at the local, state, federal, and international levels to address the climate crisis.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Nate Hultman, Founder and Director, Center for Global Sustainability; Associate Professor, University of Maryland School of Public Policy

• America’s Pledge is working to better understand climate action in the United States during a time when the federal government has been largely absent from the issue or has changed policies in a way the contravened climate action.
• America’s Pledge has published two major reports: We Are Still In to Deliver America’s Pledge: A Retrospective and Delivering on America’s Pledge: Achieving Climate Progress in 2020.
• There has been a tremendous groundswell of climate action from the bottom-up, including from states, cities, businesses, and other entities.
• America’s Pledge works with a number of other partners, including We Are Still In, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Rocky Mounty Institute, and the World Resources Institute, to better understand what actions have been taken, what impact those actions have had, what impacts those actions could have, and what potential partnerships could be formed with a reengaged federal government.
• One thing we have learned over the past couple of years is the critical importance of the sub-national community in driving forward an ambitious climate agenda, not only at the national level, but at the international level as well. When aggregated, actions at the sub-national level can deliver significant emission reductions and create the conditions for a more robust federal reengagement.
• There has been widespread climate action from governors, cities and counties, cultural institutions, colleges and universities, businesses and investors, faith groups, health care organizations, and tribal associations. These actors represent 51 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, 65 percent of the U.S. population, and 68 percent of U.S. GDP (representing an economy as large as China’s).
• Together, the actions taken by these entities could lead to a 25 percent reduction in emissions relative to 2005 levels by 2030. With expanded action, this could increase to a 37 percent reduction by 2030. With vigorous federal action, this could further increase, leading up to a 49 percent reduction by 2030.
• These analyses can help us understand how federal policies can integrate these actions taken at the sub-national level and build them into a long-term, robust national strategy.

 

Carla Frisch, Senior Principal, Rocky Mountain Institute

• In We Are Still In to Deliver America’s Pledge: A Retrospective, the analysis shows that since 2017:
  • The number of electric vehicles has doubled;
  • 16 states have committed to phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are potent greenhouse gases;
  • 79 percent of Americans now support a renewable energy future;
  • 13 states, Puerto Rico, and more than 170 cities have made commitments to 100 percent clean energy. Of those cities, more than 30 have already achieved 100 percent clean energy;
  • Seven states and 27 gas companies have committed to methane leak reductions; and
  • Six million people live in cities with commitments for-all electric new construction.
• America’s Pledge has continued to track climate action in 2020 and the need to address the global pandemic, the economic recession, and racial inequality, in the report Delivering on America’s Pledge: Achieving Climate Progress in 2020.
• The report looks at five sectors, electricity, transportation, methane, buildings, and HFCs, to understand the key drivers affecting emissions, characterize the direction and extent of recent trends, and assess their potential to affect emissions reductions in 2030. Overall, the assessment increased confidence in the ability of states, cities, and businesses to deliver on bottom-up actions, and showed that, in many cases, climate actions sped up through 2020.
• This year, in the middle of the pandemic, Houston, Texas, and Kansas City, Missouri, committed to net-zero emissions and 100 clean energy, showing that solutions for addressing climate change, lowering costs for communities, bolstering a sustainable economy, and improving public health are intertwined.
• Federal economic recovery and stimulus packages provide critical opportunities to maintain momentum and further spur climate action. Examples of actions include grid modernization, increasing public transportation, workforce training, and expanding efficiency and electrification.

 

Moderated Q&A with additional panelists:

Elan Strait, Director of U.S. Climate Campaigns, World Wildlife Fund; We Are Still In

Lisa Jacobson, President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE)

Kelly Stone, Senior Policy Analyst, ActionAid USA

 

Can you describe your organization's approach to inspiring, coordinating, or implementing climate actions in the United States leading up to 2020—a key benchmark year for climate action?

• Elan Strait: My work has revolved around movement building and trying to build a coalition of cities, states, businesses, universities, cultural institutions, faith groups, and others that want to remain committed to climate action. Many of these entities viewed climate action as an issue for the federal government until President Trump announced he was leaving the Paris Agreement in 2017. The withdrawal of the federal government has forced many of these non-federal institutions to think on their own about climate action. When the federal government reengages, there will be a network of sub-national action already in place. I want to point out three important lessons: policy and political levers in the United States are everywhere and many of the decisions on emission levels are made at hyperlocal levels; there is strength in numbers—as more and more entities join the climate action coalition, it makes it easier for others to join; and there is no way to adequately address the climate crisis without incorporating environmental and racial justice.
   
• Lisa Jacobson: I am speaking today as a representative of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BSCE), a broad-based energy trade association focused on clean energy technologies, products, and services. BCSE shares and documents the changes in the energy sector. Even through there have been significant economic and job implications from COVID-19, clients and companies have not backed away from their sustainability objectives. The pandemic has also accelerated the conversation around building more resilient facilities and operations.
  Significant work has been done to bring sub-national and private sector entities into the conversation on policy, investment, and implementation of climate action. BCSE has tracked the involvement of these entities. When we think about climate action in 2020 and what we need to do going forward, we need to think about leveraging the private sector and building private-public partnerships. Clean energy is practical, reliable, and affordable, and can help us build a robust, sustainable economy.
   
• Kelly Stone: ActionAid is an international network that works on the issues of extreme poverty and human rights. In the United States, I focus on climate change and food rights. We need to understand how the effort to combat climate change is split between many stakeholders. The U.S. Climate Action Network (USCAN) has developed The U.S. Climate Fair Share approach to dividing the effort fairly across all countries, by considering historical responsibilities for greenhouse gas emissions and capacities to act. Using this approach, we have determined the Unites States’ fair share is a 195 percent emissions reduction from our 2005 baseline by 2030. To achieve this, the United States should reduce domestic emissions by 70 percent by 2030, and offer international support through climate finance, capacity building, and technology transfer to countries that otherwise would not have the capacity to act. We see the fair share approach as the way to unlock ambition from all parties involved and a way to work collectively at the international level to achieve climate action.

 

How we can build upon the non-federal and federal climate work that is happening now to achieve the goal presented in the fair share analysis?

• Frisch: Our analysis at America’s Pledge shows that a lot is possible at all levels of government. However, all levels of government must work together with the private sector to make a real impact. A lot of the early actions focused on clean electricity, which has resulted in significant decreases in emissions from the electricity sector. There is a real opportunity for emission reductions in buildings, transportation, and industry.
   
• Hultman: To think about this through a net-zero lens, there are a few big categories of action: decarbonization, efficient use of energy, and non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. We need to help different actors address these categories. In terms of scaling, the big opportunities are in the electricity sector. In terms of thinking about other groups of constituents, land use can deliver emission reductions in the immediate and long term (post-2030).
   
• Jacobson: The transportation, industrial, and commercial sectors offer many opportunities in emission reductions. BCSE was very involved in the international development of climate mitigation and adaptation. As a result of lost federal investment, we have lost a lot of that work and the diplomatic and business advantages that were associated with it. We need to retake the leadership role in building capacity in other countries and sharing technology and knowledge.
   
• Stone: Climate finance is extremely important. State and local actions can push the federal government to take action and contribute to international climate finance. This is part of our fair share of cleaning up the mess we had a large part in making. The pandemic, like the climate crisis, has shown the cracks in our system and who is the most vulnerable. These crises have particularly shown the improvements that can be made in the agricultural sector.
   
• Strait: Cooperation across different communities can create exponential opportunities. We need to be sure that no one gets left behind by these transitions. Once communities start cooperating with each other, and the incentives are aligned in the right direction, transitions can happen quite rapidly.

 

Can you share an example of a scalable climate action that is currently underway that Congress can look to when designing federal policies?

• Frisch: Building electrification: ensuring that HVAC systems and household appliances are electric can improve indoor air quality. There is a wealth of existing technology available across the country. There is a wave of cities passing rules that mandate new construction be all electric. As appliances hit their end of life, it is easy to switch from gas to electric.
   
• Jacobson: Building efficiency and systems energy management: digital tools can promote energy efficiency. Innovative technologies can facilitate the shift to cleaner fuels sources.
   
• Strait: Grid modernization: having multiple grids can be more resilient to shock, but present security risks to the United States. We need to address how to better incorporate renewable energy and energy storage technologies into the national grid system.
   
• Stone: Appropriating climate financing: we need to start giving money to the Green Climate Fund again. We also need to address foreign policy and diplomacy with a climate lens. Land access: we can provide land for small farmers and new farmers who want to integrate sustainable methods.
   
• Hultman: Climate finance: in the United States, we will succeed by implementing national policies and facilitating action at the international level. Methane: there is near-term opportunity in emission reductions by limiting methane leaks.

 

Are there any climate action examples you have come across that have been especially creative or innovative and that leverage partnerships?

• Frisch: In the We Are Still In coalition, there are cultural institutions and universities. They both teach us about climate issues and take climate action. As the different sectors come together, they are teaming up with city and community leaders. Together, they are cultivating creative solutions.
   
• Strait: As the America’s Pledge report has matured, it has incorporated highly-detailed and specific opportunities for emission reductions. It can provide a clear roadmap and tangible steps for states.
   
• Jacobson: To facilitate a just transition and cultivate these creative solutions, we need to take a community-based approach.
   
• Stone: There is value in science-based target-setting and making aggressive commitments. Many times, entities do not know how to achieve these targets even as they make them, but they are confident that they will be able to figure it out and achieve them. Public-private partnerships are essential to generating solutions.
   
• Hultman: Target-setting can provide direction. Conversations between coalitions and different stakeholders can help the learning process.

 

How should the federal government integrate climate justice, climate mitigation, and climate adaptation together as they look to put together a national climate strategy?

• Strait: I think the best conversations and processes for reducing emissions are community-led. The best thing the federal government can do is to provide the resources and funding to communities to support their work.
   
• Frisch: There is a huge opportunity with stimulus and providing funds directly to communities. Congressional staffers should engage with these coalitions, whose members are present in every Congressional district.
   
• Jacobson: The federal government can support convening on a consistent and sustained basis, and it can provide capacity-building to local government and leaders.
   
• Hultman: We need a sustained investment in diverse places and in all sectors.
   
• Stone: We need to engage marginalized communities and recognize the harm that has already been done.

 

Final thoughts from EESI Executive Director Daniel Bresette:

• The United States has the ability to do the right thing. This goes beyond the federal level.
• Climate action is coming from different places. There are fewer “unusual suspects,” because it is now quite normal for a wide range of companies, organizations, and governments to be engaged in this work.
• Environmental justice must be a part of climate action.
• There is a movement to build on, and a need for the federal government to reassert itself.

 

Highlights compiled by Emma Walker