FAQ: America's New Promise On Climate
The White House is hosting a two-day summit on climate change this week where leaders from 40 countries will discuss plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately reverse global warming.
The summit highlights the United States' return to the Paris climate agreement, and it is the Biden administration's first major opportunity to reestablish the country as a trustworthy player in international climate diplomacy.
The administration is expected to promise to sharply reduce American greenhouse gas emissions and to help poorer countries pay for the costs of climate change.
The U.S. will also use the summit to invite other countries to announce new, bolder climate goals. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry has spent the last few months criss-crossing the globe, trying to reassure world leaders that the U.S. can be trusted to follow through on its promises.......
America's choices affect the whole planet. The U.S. has emitted more total greenhouse gases than any other country, and is still the second largest emitter after China. The Biden administration hopes that new promises to slash emissions in the next decade will help keep global temperatures from rising too high, and will also reestablish American leadership ahead of an annual climate summit in the Fall.
The U.S. officially left the Paris agreement last year and officially rejoined it this spring. The agreement requires that every active member make a public commitment to address climate change, such as cutting emissions, maintaining undisturbed forest or investing money in clean energy. That public commitment is called a "nationally determined contribution," or NDC.
In the last year, many countries have announced NDCs that are more aggressive than the promises they made when the Paris agreement was first signed. The European Union promised to cut emissions by at least 55%. China promised that its emissions would peak before 2030, which is sooner than it had originally pledged. Japan promised to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, although it has yet to set specific targets for 2030.
This week, the U.S. will unveil its new NDC, likely pegged to 2030. It will include specific emissions targets and rough calculations showing what the country would need to do to hit those targets. For example, phasing out all coal-fired power plants or using all electric cars and trucks. It's also possible that other countries attending the summit will announce new NDCs of their own.
What Is A Climate NDC? : NPR
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Originally Posted by RMNIXON
