The US is making progress on reducing emissions

The US reduced its greenhouse gas emissions last year as the overall economy grew, signaling that America is slowly heading toward a more sustainable future, per an annual emissions progress report published yesterday by the Rhodium Group.

The report found US greenhouse gas emissions fell by about 1.9% in 2023, while the economy grew by 2.4%, marking the first time both things have happened since before the Covid pandemic.

• The annual decrease in emissions can be mostly attributed to US companies and organizations phasing out the use of coal plants to produce electricity, with such activity falling to its lowest level in half a century last year.
• Overall, US emissions have now fallen more than 17% since 2005, which the report frames as “a step in the right direction.” However, it also says that if current trends hold, the US will end up ~10 points shy of President Biden’s goal to cut US emissions by 50% compared to 2005 levels by the end of this decade.

🌏 Big picture: A recent UN report found Earth is on track to peak at between 4.9°F and 5.2°F above pre-industrial levels by 2100, based on emissions commitments from countries around the world and the actions they’ve taken thus far.

That figure is nearly double the 2.7°F limit set in the 2015 Paris Agreement as the threshold for which countries should aim to limit global warming to avoid severe consequences, such as the runaway melting of ice sheets or the Amazon rainforest drying out.

• China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas-emitter, is responsible for 27+% of global emissions, while the US sits at 11%. India makes up 7%, and all 27 EU nations combined account for 6%.