Rising to meet the ambition set out by our global climate commitments demands accelerated actions and commitments between all actors across our society: states, cities, businesses, universities, faith groups, and more. These sum-of-society actors have incredible leverage to impact the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions, innovate across our economy, and accelerate the speed of the global clean energy transition.
Our research demonstrates that these actors from diverse sets when acting in concert can drive a similar impact as national governments in reaching our climate targets. In this program, we assess how all-of-society climate strategies that leverage the leadership of states, cities, regions, provinces, businesses, investors, and other actors can create robust and ambitious outcomes.
- America Is All In coalition: CGS leads the America Is All In analysis team. The most recent report, An All-In Pathway to 2030: The Beyond 50 Scenario, launched at COP27 depicts how an expanded all-of-society climate strategy—leveraging the critical bottom-up action from states, cities, businesses, and more—can help the United States achieve its 2030 climate target and 2050 net-zero goal.
- State-Level Analysis: The State of Maryland has tasked CGS, through the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), with helping the State understand pathways to achieving its highly ambitious climate targets embedded in the CSNA. CGS is working with additional states to conduct similar analyses to explore high-ambition pathways to reaching ambitious state-level climate targets.
- Global All-of-Society Climate Pathways: Analysis from the Center for Global Sustainability assesses how an all-of-society climate strategy across all countries can catalyze both national and subnational actions in support of an All-of-Society 1.5°C pathway. This unique analysis identifies substantial opportunities for partnership between national and subnational actors to close the emissions and implementation gaps highlighted in the UNFCCC's Global Stocktake process undertaken by the international community.
- Subnational Climate Action Leaders’ Exchange (SCALE): The SCALE initiative was jointly announced by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Michael R. Bloomberg, Special Envoy to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies at COP27 in Egypt. SCALE aims to harness multi-level governance to empower subnational leaders to fuel ambitious national climate action and, in turn, reduce global emissions. Through targeted analysis, information dissemination, and fostering political will, SCALE partners identify priorities for additional action and resource mobilization. The Center for Global Sustainability joins SCALE‘s diverse set of partner organizations, including C40 Cities, the Under2 Coalition (Secretariat – Climate Group), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.
- New Analysis Shows Climate-Smart Agriculture, Forestry Investments Can Help Cut Net Emissions by 72 Percent by 2035
- Report shows All-In climate strategy to cut U.S. emissions by at least 50% by 2030 will improve air quality across all 50 states
- Center for Global Sustainability, University of Maryland, Shares Key Research on 1.5 Pathway and Opportunities in Coal Power and Methane Emissions at COP28
- Subnational Climate Action Leaders’ Exchange (SCALE) Launches Transformative Initiative to Scale Up Multi-Level Collaboration on Methane
- CGS releases new analysis detailing how Maryland can reach its climate goals