There is very high confidence that state, local, and private entities are increasingly taking, or are committed to taking, GHG mitigation action. Public statements and collated indices show an upward trend in the number of commitments, as well as the breadth and depth of commitments over the past five years.
' contributors: [] evidence: "Since NCA3, state, local, and tribal entities have announced new or enhanced efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While some policies with emissions co-benefits have been eliminated, on net there has been an increase in initiatives aimed at reducing emissions. Figure 29.1 includes several types of state-level efforts and is sourced from Figure ES-3 of the America’s Pledge Phase 1 report, the most comprehensive listing of efforts across sectors currently available. The underlying state information is sourced from the U.S. Department of Energy, Appliance Standards Awareness Project, Open Energy Information, Rethink Food Waste Through Economics and Data, World Resources Institute, State of New York, California Air Resources Board, University of Minnesota, Land Trust Alliance, and the U.S. Forest Service.
U.S. state and local carbon pricing programs have increased in number since NCA3.{{< tbib '156' '7225530f-0579-4a4b-a1b3-bd1fa9ae55d2' >}} The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative has expanded the depth of emissions reductions activities and is considering adding transportation to their scope. California’s cap and trade program started in 2012 and expanded by linking to Quebec and Ontario in 2017. Emissions trading systems are scheduled in Massachusetts and under consideration in Virginia.{{< tbib '156' '7225530f-0579-4a4b-a1b3-bd1fa9ae55d2' >}}
U.S. states have both mandatory and voluntary programs that vary in stringency and impact. For example, 29 states, Washington, DC, and 3 territories have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS; https://energy.gov/eere/slsc/renewable-portfolio-standards-resources), which require some portion of electricity to be sourced from renewable energy; while 8 states and 1 territory have voluntary renewable portfolio goals.{{< tbib '42' '8ae1bf4d-4ea5-4c70-91bd-a1b7e3cc17fa' >}},{{
Federal budget levels for activities that have reduced GHG have remained steady over recent years. There is uncertainty around the implementation of federal initiatives, in part owing to the implementation of Executive Order 13783.{{< tbib '40' '12892612-06cb-4b04-86fa-b88ae37dc766' >}},{{
U.S. companies that report through the Carbon Disclosure Project increasingly (although not comprehensively) reported board-level oversight on climate issues, which rose from 50% in 2011 to 71% in 2017. Likewise, 59 U.S. companies recently committed to set science-based emissions reduction targets.{{< tbib '46' '47f855e2-eed7-4027-bedd-22313d13319e' >}} U.S. businesses are increasingly pricing carbon.{{< tbib '46' '47f855e2-eed7-4027-bedd-22313d13319e' >}},{{
As indicated in the Education Institutions Reporting Database, a growing number of universities have made emissions reduction commitments or deepened existing commitments{{< tbib '161' '46cee5f3-4325-4e5e-ac7f-012325111ba1' >}} as well as publicized the progress on their efforts.{{< tbib '162' 'ba372d89-ab64-4112-9d48-76f8f323c232' >}}
" files: [] gcmd_keywords: - definition: |- Mitigation includes any activities that prevent a hazard emergency, reduce the chance of an emergency happening, or lessen the damaging effects of unavoidable emergencies. href: https://data.globalchange.gov/gcmd_keyword/a2e9c7b9-96fd-449f-91db-7ab5e2dd679e.yaml identifier: a2e9c7b9-96fd-449f-91db-7ab5e2dd679e label: HAZARDS MITIGATION parent_identifier: 464de0a5-2bb9-4172-9fd3-1634cbc4e739 uri: /gcmd_keyword/a2e9c7b9-96fd-449f-91db-7ab5e2dd679e - definition: 'A concept in political ecology or environmental policy related to defining the elements needed to achieve sustainability. All human activities--political, social and economic—should be understood and managed as subsets of the environment and ecosystems. Governance includes not only government, but also business and civil society, and emphasizes whole system management. To capture this diverse range of dynamic forces, environmental governance often necessitates founding alternative systems of governing, for example watershed based management.' href: https://data.globalchange.gov/gcmd_keyword/d81b77be-0177-4e26-942c-aa911239482d.yaml identifier: d81b77be-0177-4e26-942c-aa911239482d label: ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE/MANAGEMENT parent_identifier: fb93d937-c17c-45d0-a9e3-ca5c8a800ca8 uri: /gcmd_keyword/d81b77be-0177-4e26-942c-aa911239482d - definition: 'Any behavior caused by or affecting another individual, usually of the same species.' href: https://data.globalchange.gov/gcmd_keyword/c8317644-4cb2-4e37-b536-c762f7e670ab.yaml identifier: c8317644-4cb2-4e37-b536-c762f7e670ab label: SOCIAL BEHAVIOR parent_identifier: fb93d937-c17c-45d0-a9e3-ca5c8a800ca8 uri: /gcmd_keyword/c8317644-4cb2-4e37-b536-c762f7e670ab - definition: 'The capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of responsibility, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of stewardship, the responsible management of resource use.' href: https://data.globalchange.gov/gcmd_keyword/03d38261-1c90-491b-bc4e-cc4e703e1dff.yaml identifier: 03d38261-1c90-491b-bc4e-cc4e703e1dff label: SUSTAINABILITY parent_identifier: fb93d937-c17c-45d0-a9e3-ca5c8a800ca8 uri: /gcmd_keyword/03d38261-1c90-491b-bc4e-cc4e703e1dff - definition: |- Models that aid in decision support of a specific topic such as population, irrigation scheduling, coastal zone decisions, ecosystem distribution, crop yields, water use, energy generation, telecommunications, and space weather activity. href: https://data.globalchange.gov/gcmd_keyword/9a1dd3c3-a126-437e-ad04-9dc0a382d567.yaml identifier: 9a1dd3c3-a126-437e-ad04-9dc0a382d567 label: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODELS parent_identifier: e1f20631-b5b9-438c-b5c2-b1fa0fce100a uri: /gcmd_keyword/9a1dd3c3-a126-437e-ad04-9dc0a382d567 - definition: 'Climate Change Impact Assessment Models examine and predict the vulnerabilities of human populations to future climate change, including associated sea-level rise and changes in the frequency and intensity of climate extremes such as floods, droughts, heat waves and windstorms, and taking into account potential impacts on water resources, agriculture and food security, human health, coastal and other types of settlements, and economic activities. These models can be used to assess the potential responses of natural environments and the wildlife that inhabit them to future climate change and identifies environments at particular risk.' href: https://data.globalchange.gov/gcmd_keyword/ea5ccefb-e390-43d5-8202-33e004565beb.yaml identifier: ea5ccefb-e390-43d5-8202-33e004565beb label: CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT MODELS parent_identifier: e1f20631-b5b9-438c-b5c2-b1fa0fce100a uri: /gcmd_keyword/ea5ccefb-e390-43d5-8202-33e004565beb href: https://data.globalchange.gov/report/nca4/chapter/mitigation-avoiding-and-reducing-long-term-risks/finding/key-message-29-1.yaml identifier: key-message-29-1 ordinal: 1 parents: [] process: "The scope for this chapter was determined by the federal Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) Steering Committee, which is made up of representatives from the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) member agencies (see App. 1: Process for more information regarding the Steering Committee). The scope was also informed by research needs identified in the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA3) and in subsequent gap analyses.{{< tbib '155' 'd6eb34ef-1bfb-4b90-a397-f6bb363086a0' >}} Prospective authors were nominated by their respective agency, university, organization, or peers. All prospective authors were interviewed with respect to their qualifications and expertise. Authors were selected to represent the diverse perspectives relevant to mitigation, with the final team providing perspectives from federal and state agencies, nonfederal climate research organizations, and the private sector. The author team sought public input on the chapter scope and outline through a webinar and during presentations at conferences and workshops.
The chapter was developed through technical discussions of relevant evidence and expert deliberation by the report authors during extensive teleconferences, workshops, and email exchanges. These discussions were informed by the results of a comprehensive literature review, including the research focused on estimating the avoided or reduced risks of climate change. The authors considered inputs submitted by the public, stakeholders, and federal agencies and improved the chapter based on rounds of review by the public, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and federal agencies. The author team also engaged in targeted consultations during multiple exchanges with contributing authors from other chapters of this assessment, as well as authors of the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR). For additional information on the overall report process, see Appendix 1: Process.
" references: - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/119864b3-e23d-4021-86d5-e4fccb0385ae.yaml uri: /reference/119864b3-e23d-4021-86d5-e4fccb0385ae - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/12892612-06cb-4b04-86fa-b88ae37dc766.yaml uri: /reference/12892612-06cb-4b04-86fa-b88ae37dc766 - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/141185af-76a0-4f8b-9902-82b546a3b27b.yaml uri: /reference/141185af-76a0-4f8b-9902-82b546a3b27b - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/37f81db2-5010-4e7d-a9df-f5caaaa29879.yaml uri: /reference/37f81db2-5010-4e7d-a9df-f5caaaa29879 - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/417ea095-d99e-4ef2-bc70-945c34a2596d.yaml uri: /reference/417ea095-d99e-4ef2-bc70-945c34a2596d - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/46cee5f3-4325-4e5e-ac7f-012325111ba1.yaml uri: /reference/46cee5f3-4325-4e5e-ac7f-012325111ba1 - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/47f855e2-eed7-4027-bedd-22313d13319e.yaml uri: /reference/47f855e2-eed7-4027-bedd-22313d13319e - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/7225530f-0579-4a4b-a1b3-bd1fa9ae55d2.yaml uri: /reference/7225530f-0579-4a4b-a1b3-bd1fa9ae55d2 - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/7f4ecc6c-69e5-4866-9fac-a5c7e531f3e1.yaml uri: /reference/7f4ecc6c-69e5-4866-9fac-a5c7e531f3e1 - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/8ae1bf4d-4ea5-4c70-91bd-a1b7e3cc17fa.yaml uri: /reference/8ae1bf4d-4ea5-4c70-91bd-a1b7e3cc17fa - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/ba372d89-ab64-4112-9d48-76f8f323c232.yaml uri: /reference/ba372d89-ab64-4112-9d48-76f8f323c232 - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/c9761a3e-37aa-4cfb-8d17-1e3f01ee836b.yaml uri: /reference/c9761a3e-37aa-4cfb-8d17-1e3f01ee836b - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/d6eb34ef-1bfb-4b90-a397-f6bb363086a0.yaml uri: /reference/d6eb34ef-1bfb-4b90-a397-f6bb363086a0 - href: https://data.globalchange.gov/reference/f0b1dfab-0930-41b3-a780-e50b5887802a.yaml uri: /reference/f0b1dfab-0930-41b3-a780-e50b5887802a regions: - description: The complete territory of the United States of America href: https://data.globalchange.gov/region/united-states.yaml identifier: united-states label: Entire US uri: /region/united-states report_identifier: nca4 statement: 'Mitigation-related activities are taking place across the United States at the federal, state, and local levels as well as in the private sector (very high confidence). Since the Third National Climate Assessment, a growing number of states, cities, and businesses have pursued or deepened initiatives aimed at reducing emissions (very high confidence).
' uncertainties: 'Figure 29.1 shows a count of each type of 30 measures across 6 categories, but it does not explore the relative stringency or emissions impact of the measures. The size, scope, time frame, and enforceability of the measures vary across states. Some state efforts and the majority of city efforts are voluntary, and therefore standards for reporting are heterogeneous. Efforts are underway to provide a rigorous accounting of the cumulative scale of these initiatives. Data collection through the America’s Pledge effort is an ongoing, iterative process and, by necessity, involves aggregating different measures into categories. Historically, state, local, and corporate policies change on different cycles.
' uri: /report/nca4/chapter/mitigation-avoiding-and-reducing-long-term-risks/finding/key-message-29-1 url: ~