California joins landmark international climate pact
12 states and regions signed a new pact on Tuesday to cut emissions and combat climate change
12 states and regions from the U.S., Canada, South America and Europe signed a new pact on Tuesday to cut greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.
The agreement is part of an international movement to encourage global leaders to finalise a strong climate deal at the COP21 U.N. meeting in Paris in December.
The deal includes the U.S. states of California, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario.
The Mexican states of Baja California and Jalisco have also signed the pact.
Wales in the United Kingdom, Acre in Brazil, Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Catalonia in Spain are also included.
The group represents more than 100 million people and $4.5 trillion in gross domestic product.
Signatories to the pact have agreed to either cut GHG emissions to at least 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050, or to achieve an annual emission target of less than 2 metric tonnes per capita within the next forty years.
The aim of the "Under 2 MOU" Memorandum of Understanding is to limit the increase in global average temperature to below 2°C after research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that failure to do so would result in catastrophic levels of climate change including sea level rises, heat waves, droughts and flooding.
With a $2 trillion economy California is perhaps the most significant signatory and has an 80 per cent emissions reduction target for 2050 that was set by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
California Governor Jerry Brown (pictured) said: “This global challenge requires bold action on the part of governments everywhere. It’s time to be decisive. It’s time to act.”
Governor Brown signed an executive order in April requiring California to reduce its GHG emissions to 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 to keep the state on track to achieve the 80 per cent target.
Brown has also proposed a range of clean energy policies, including a plan to source 50 per cent of California’s electricity from renewables by 2030. Jerry Brown said on Tuesday. “It’s time to be decisive. It’s time to act.”