“While it is good to see the US submit its NDC early, it would have been even better to see a higher level of ambition. But considering the likelihood of President Trump pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement, the big question is how much of these plans can and will be implemented by sub national governments and the private sector,” said Mattias Soderberg, global climate lead at Dan Church Aid and co-chair of the Climate Justice Group at ACT Alliance.
In its submission, the US said it is on a straight line or steeper trajectory to net zero emissions by 2050 for all greenhouse gases. “This new climate target demonstrates clearly that the United States is capable of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. This is the standard against which the incoming US Administration will be judged,” said Kaveh Guilanpour, vice president for international strategies at Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, a Washington DC-based think tank.
With Trump set to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, this submission is more in the nature of a signal to the non-federal government constituents.
“The US NDC is a decent farewell gift from the Biden administration and sets a benchmark for the many sub-national actors that decarbonise their economies out of self-interest,” said Linda Kalcher, executive director of the Brussels-based think tank Strategic Perspectives.
As in 2016, states, cities, and other sub-national entities, private sector and other non-state actors are expected to step up and take on efforts to meet the targets set out in the NDC. The submission document hints at this. “Due to the federal structure of the United States, the actions of subnational and Tribal governments will be critical to achieving the 2035 emissions target.”
