This archive report was first published on 4 November 2019.
Published on November 4, 2019, a time when the world was still reeling from the effects of climate change. President Barack Obama had pledged to cut emissions by 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, but the question remained: how far were sub-national governments getting toward achieving this goal?
Paul Bodnar, managing director of the Rocky Mountain Institute, was working on a model to analyze progress toward the Paris pledge. He described the preliminary results as an 'encouraging picture' that could boost the morale of the international community.
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and former mayor of New York City, echoed this sentiment in a statement. 'Cities, states, and businesses haven't had a formal place at the negotiating table, but the Paris Agreement succeeded in large part because their voices were heard, and they will keep us moving forward until we have a president who will confront the climate crisis and put the public's health and safety first.'
Bloomberg had started America's Pledge, an initiative to track efforts by US cities, states, and businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This effort was not isolated; similar initiatives were expanding internationally, with the actions of states, provinces, businesses, and others driving concrete changes.
However, the challenge remained: devising ways to turn all of these pledges into a system that could chip away at global emissions. As Ms. Tubiana noted, 'Whatever happens on the United States side, even if a Democratic candidate would be elected, we have to prepare to have a structure.'
