EESI Welcomes New U.S. Goal of Cutting Emissions More Than 50% by 2030 | Press Release

MAY 12 BRIEFING AT 2 PM EDT

Ambition and Opportunity in
America's New Climate Commitments

EESI invites you to join us for a briefing on everything you need to know about America's new emission reduction goal, or nationally determined contribution. Experts will discuss the new goal, explain why it matters, and show how it can be used as a guide for domestic federal policy development and design. Speakers include:

Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director, Climate and Energy Program, Union of Concerned Scientists

Tracy Bach, Co-Focal Point, Research and Independent NGOs, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Visiting Professor of Law, Washington University in St. Louis

More information: www.eesi.org/051221ndc

RSVP: www.eesi.org/051221ndc#rsvp

Livecast: www.eesi.org/livecast

The Biden-Harris Administration unveiled America’s new greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments as part of its contribution to the Paris Agreement, which seeks to keep global warming significantly below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F). The United States, which announced it would rejoin the Paris Agreement on President Biden's first day in office, has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

"The Biden-Harris Administration means business,” said EESI Executive Director Daniel Bresette, welcoming the news. “Meeting this new goal will make a significant contribution to the global fight against climate change. It is much more ambitious than America's initial goal to cut emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025. Other countries, including China, Britain, and the members of the European Union, have also raised their ambitions in the runup to the next U.N. climate summit this year. I am more optimistic than I have been in a long time."

"But we still have a lot of work to do. 2030 sounds far off, but it's only nine years away…" noted Bresette. "Cutting our emissions by 50 percent in less than a decade will be a challenge. But, and this is critically important, it will also be an enormous opportunity to transition the United States to a resilient and equitable clean energy economy. Cutting emissions means creating jobs, making our air and water cleaner, and addressing environmental injustices. We can do this—we must do this."

The Biden-Harris Administration made its announcement as it began hosting the Leaders Summit on Climate (April 22-23). The Summit, which includes 41 major world leaders, seeks to drive major emitting countries to redouble their efforts to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

The 190 countries that have joined the Paris Agreement have pledged to cut emissions to address global warming. With almost universal support from the world's nations, the Paris Agreement entered into force in record time in November 2016. Under the Agreement, signatory countries set their own emission reduction goals—the nationally determined contributions (NDCs).