World urged to step up climate action ahead of 2020

The Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) concluded in San Francisco on Friday with governments, businesses, cities, investors and civil society leaders calling for faster and stronger measures to tackle climate change ahead of 2020.

The five-day summit, an initiative of California Governor Jerry Brown, highlighted climate action already being undertaken around the world while urging national governments to work more closely with states, cities and businesses. The participants stressed the need for global greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2020 and decline sharply thereafter to limit the most severe effects of climate change.

The summit also demonstrated how several US states and businesses were continuing to pursue climate policies despite the Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and ongoing trade tensions between the US and China.

One of the notable developments was the growing cooperation between California and China on climate issues. With California representing one of the world's largest economies, its independent climate initiatives have given it an increasingly important role in international climate diplomacy.

More than 100 leaders also committed to achieving carbon neutrality, meaning they would balance the amount of carbon dioxide they emit with the amount removed from the atmosphere. California brought forward its target for achieving carbon neutrality to 2045.

The economic case for climate action was also highlighted at the summit. A report by the New Climate Economy estimated that accelerating the shift towards a low-carbon economy could generate $26 trillion in economic benefits worldwide by 2030 and create more than 65 million new low-carbon jobs.

Transport emerged as one of the major areas for new commitments. An alliance of more than 60 governments and businesses committed to expanding zero-emission transport under the ZEV Challenge.

Twelve regions, including Catalonia, Lombardy, Scotland and Washington State, representing more than 80 million people, committed to having entirely zero-emission public vehicle fleets by 2030.

Twenty-six cities representing around 140 million residents pledged to purchase only zero-emission buses from 2025 and establish zero-emission areas from 2030. Businesses also joined the effort, with 23 multinational companies participating in the EV100 initiative and committing to transition their vehicle fleets towards zero emissions.

IKEA, for instance, announced plans to shift its operations to electric vehicles in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Shanghai by 2020 for last-mile home deliveries.

The summit also saw commitments to install more than 3.5 million additional electric vehicle charging points by 2025, while a target was launched to make transport-related hydrogen zero-emission by 2030.

Renewable energy commitments expanded as well. Nearly 400 companies, healthcare providers, cities, states and regions now have targets to shift to 100 per cent renewable energy. Nearly 150 major companies, including Tata Motors and Sony, are part of the RE100 initiative.

A total of 488 companies across 38 countries have also adopted emissions-reduction pathways aligned with the scientific objectives of the Paris Agreement, an increase of nearly 40 per cent from the previous year.

Climate action is increasingly extending to urban areas. More than 70 major cities, representing about 425 million people, have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, while another 9,100 cities representing around 800 million people have adopted city-wide climate action plans.

Financial institutions and investors were another major part of the summit's commitments. The Investor Agenda brought together nearly 400 investors managing about $32 trillion in assets, signalling growing pressure within global financial markets to direct more capital towards clean energy and sustainable economic activity.

The Global Environment Facility announced $500 million to support improved land use and forest conservation. Nine major philanthropic foundations also announced plans to commit at least $459 million through 2022 towards protecting, restoring and expanding forests and other natural landscapes.

A Global Green Bond Partnership, backed by organisations including the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, was also launched to support governments and companies in raising funds for climate-friendly projects through green bonds.

At the conclusion of the summit, Governor Brown announced plans for California to develop its own satellite for monitoring climate-related pollutants in partnership with San Francisco-based Earth-imaging company Planet Labs.

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said the summit's Call to Action would contribute to the global effort to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra also highlighted the growing importance of climate-conscious business models and announced that the entire Mahindra Group would work towards becoming carbon neutral. Mahindra & Mahindra separately committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2040.

The summit ultimately underscored a broader shift in climate policy: responsibility for cutting emissions is increasingly being shared not only by national governments but also by cities, companies, investors and communities. The scale of the commitments announced in San Francisco suggested that economic growth and climate action are increasingly being viewed as complementary rather than competing goals.