Earth Day last Friday brought momentous post-COP21 activity, with the signing of the December 2015 Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change and limit global temperature rise by more than 150 countries at the United Nations in New York. Recaps of the event are available from many (including the U.S. Green Buildings Council and FSRN) and more information is available on the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC) website.
In a new Environmental Leader article, a sustainability lead from DuPont discusses the role of business as the world moves forward from Paris, and works toward COP22, now planned for November 2016 in Marrakesh. Of particular interest are results from a Carbon Disclosure Project survey, which finds that 800 of the world’s largest businesses are in favor of legally-binding commitment to the COP21 Paris Agreement, and for achieving a future net zero target.
The local and subnational leadership championed at COP21 in December continues to move forward – with California at the forefront. Subnational leaders are meeting in San Francisco in early June, and cities, counties and regional governments continue to move climate and energy goals forward. For more on connecting messages from the Paris Agreement to action as a California local government, click here to hear from leaders in Oakland and Richmond in our recent edition of the CURRENTS newsletter. General coverage including a background on COP21, and other countries’ actions, is available from CNN. For more examples of what local governments are doing, use the Local Governments in Action tag in the cloud to the right (or the link above).