Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement of 2015 (Agreement) was enacted at the Paris Climate Conference in December 2015 by the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Agreement is a formation of many articles, the most essential of which states that all parties seek to keep the global temperature rise this century to below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to additionally pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C. To achieve these goals, the Agreement emphasizes that the parties should aim to start reducing GHG emissions as soon as possible. The Agreement also requires that all parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts. This refers specifically to the Nationally Determined Contributions which countries must prepare, work towards, and then report on every five years. According to the UNFCCC, developed countries should continue to take the lead by undertaking economy-wide reduction targets, while developing countries should continue enhancing their mitigation and adaptation efforts. Developing countries are also encouraged to move toward economy-wide targets over time (UNFCCC n.d.).

There are some measures that indicate it has helped push the world towards sustainability. One of these measures is the number of non-state actors that have pledged their support of the Agreement as well as the member parties. In the U.S. alone, more than 2,500 mayors, governors, business leaders, and investors have pledged their support to the Paris Agreement (United Nations Foundation 2017), including multiple New Hampshire towns: Hanover, Lebanon, Keene, Portsmouth, and Nashua (Greene 2017).

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, The World Resources Institute stated that over 1,000 large companies have pledged emission reductions, financial institutions are beginning to recognize that funding fossil fuel companies is a bad investment, technological advances are making renewable energy more attainable, social movements reflect the growing demand for climate action, and that country-level action is beginning to accelerate (World Resources Institute 2020).

Under 2 Memorandum of Understanding

The Under 2 Memorandum of Understanding was founded by 12 initial members in 2015 (Climate Group 2024). Now known as the Under 2 Coalition, the memorandum represents a legal agreement in which the parties involved do not form a legal commitment. The founding members include Acre, Baden-Württemberg, Baja California, British Columbia, California, Catalonia, Jalisco, Ontario, Oregon, Vermont, Wales, and Washington. The memorandum was updated in 2021 to reflect the 1.5˚C target set by the Paris Agreement. By committing to the Under 2 Coalition, parties agree to conceive and implement a plan to help limit global warming to 1.5°C. The goal of the Coalition is to reduce GHG emissions to 80-95 percent of 1990 levels, which translates to limiting emissions to 2 MTCO₂e per capita per year by 2050. Also, they aim to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2050 (Climate Group 2024). The plan has grown to 260 governments on six continents in the nine years since its founding. These members constitute 1.75 billion people and 50 percent of the global economy (Climate Group 2024). The reason that the Under 2 Coalition has so many members is that it allows local governments who want to do something about climate change to join, instead of having to wait for their federal government to join a formal agreement like the Paris Agreement. The coalition has had a fair amount of success, including working towards deforestation-free cattle ranching in Peru and creating a taskforce to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels. In 2023, they were represented at COP and invited to speak at the United Nations General Assembly meeting (Climate Group 2024).

Global Methane Pledge

The goal of the Global Methane Pledge, launched at COP26 by the European Union and the U.S., is to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent below 2020 levels by 2030 (U.S. Department of State 2024). This reduction has the potential to reduce global warming by at least 0.2°C by 2050 (Climate and Clean Air Coalition 2023). Methane is responsible for 30 percent of total global warming since the Industrial Revolution and is the second largest contributor to global warming after CO₂ (Climate and Clean Air Coalition 2023). The Global Methane Pledge aims to acquire $1 billion of new grant funding, national commitments and legislation from top oil and gas methane emitters, transformational data tools, additional members, and expanded leadership. There are currently 158 countries participating, including the U.S., in 2023.