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Climate Resilience May 18, 2021 Page 3 1 7 3 6 Global Response to Climate Change: The Paris Agreement The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement generated strong momentum for global collaboration. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 parties in Paris on December 12, 2015 and entered into force on November 4, 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by 2050. The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects. Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation, based on the best available science. The Paris Agreement works on a five-year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate action carried out by countries. By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate action known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). In their NDCs, countries communicate actions they will take to reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also communicate in the NDCs actions they will take to build resilience to adapt to the impacts of rising temperatures. In the United States’ NDC, the U.S. government is setting an economy-wide target of reducing its net greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030. To better frame the efforts towards the long-term goal, the Paris Agreement invites countries to formulate and submit by 2020 long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies (LT-LEDS). LT-LEDS provide the long-term horizon to the NDCs. Unlike NDCs, they are not mandatory. Nevertheless, they place the NDCs into the context of countries’ long-term planning and development priorities, providing a vision and direction for future development. The U.S. set a goal of achieving an 80- percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as part of its LT-LEDS. California’s Response to Climate Change Among U.S. states, California has been a pioneer in advancing climate resilience policies, such as implementing the world’s first vehicle emissions regulations in 1996, the 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act to return to 1990 emissions levels by 2020, policies to double energy efficiencies in homes, factories, and businesses, and more. Moving past 2020 to 2030, former Governor Jerry Brown established an ambitious 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels, offering policy approaches ranging from increasing the use of renewable energy, to sequestering carbon in lands, to reducing the petroleum used in the vehicle sector. Throughout the