By Yoca Arditi-Rocha, Executive Director, The CLEO Institute
December 12 marks the five-year anniversary of the world coming together to sign the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
The CLEO Institute is joining over 1,000 leaders from local governments, businesses, universities, and other institutions across the country as part of the “America Is All In” statement. To date, it has been signed by officials across the United States and Florida (Miami-Dade County, City of Miami, Gainesville, Orlando, Tampa, Boynton Beach) as well as companies such as Amazon, Apple, Cargill, Carrier, Coca-Cola, Dow, DuPont, Facebook, McDonald’s, Microsoft, PG&E, PSEG, Trane, Unilever, and Walmart.
This statement will be delivered to the incoming Biden-Harris administration, as well as to United Nations officials and global heads of state at the Climate Ambition Summit on December 12.
As we look to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we also look to the looming threat of the climate crisis. This is a moment to call for ambitious warming pollution reduction goals, foster innovation, increase national security, and protect the health and well-being of present and future generations, especially the most vulnerable ones.
The “America Is All In” declaration is a coalition in support of climate action and a pledge to uphold the United States’ commitments to reduce emissions under the Paris Agreement. With more than 3,900 organizations and institutions across all sectors of the United States, these leaders represent over half of the national population, nearly two-thirds of the economy, and more than half of the country’s emissions.
While the United States exited the Paris Agreement during the Trump administration, the Biden-Harris administration has committed to rejoining it.
The good news is that despite environmental rollbacks during Trump’s administration, bold climate actions from non-federal actors have counterbalanced the climate denial and obstruction from the White House.
Bottom-up climate leadership has kept the U.S. on a path of progress.
The pandemic has given federal, state and local governments, businesses, and community leaders an opportunity to accelerate our progress, achieve environmental justice, and put us on a pathway to a 100% clean energy economy.
If the federal government re-engages, invests in just, green stimulus recovery and works with states, cities, and businesses to enact strong climate policies, we can cut emissions by 49% from 2005 levels by 2030. That will help put America back in alignment with the Paris Agreement, reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
In our commitment to addressing the climate crisis, The CLEO Institute, is calling on President-Elect Biden, Congress, state and local governments to undertake more ambitious action to tackle the climate emergency.
December 12 is more than an anniversary of a global agreement, it’s a reminder that we need a unified national response to the climate crisis. The Paris climate agreement is our North Star in the world’s efforts to curb warming pollution and rising temperatures. It is time to act!
We need All America In.
Sign CLEO’s “It’s Time to Act” petition here: https://cleoinstitute.org/action_alerts/
Yoca Arditi-Rocha (@Yoca1000) is the Executive Director of The CLEO Institute.
“The Invading Sea” is the opinion arm of the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a collaborative of news organizations across the state. It is supported by a grant from the Environmental Defense Fund.
