April 21, 2021

In early April, ActionAid USA joined environmental, environmental justice, and development groups to release the “Fair Shares Nationally Determined Contribution” (“Fair Shares NDC”) – a new policy document that lays out the United States’ responsibility in limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. These “fair shares” measures are based on the United States’ status as the world’s wealthiest country and largest historical carbon polluter. The document came in advance of the April 22-23 Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by President Biden, ahead of which the United States unveiled a new NDC as part of its reentry into the Paris Agreement. The Fair Shares NDC sets a benchmark for how our groups will evaluate Biden’s new climate commitments.

As the official NDC sets a target for a 50-52% reduction in emissions by 2030, our analysis shows clearly the inadequacy of this target. An NDC aligned with a fair shares analysis would be closer to 195% reductions by 2030 – achievable through 70% domestic reductions plus climate finance and other support to enable the remaining 125% internationally.

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