10 June 2015: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has published a report, titled ‘Climate commitments of subnational actors and business: A quantitative assessment of their emission reduction impact.’ The report examines actions by cities, companies and sectors that could complement government efforts on climate change mitigation and save up to 1.8 gigatonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) by 2020.

The report considers 15 major initiatives by cities, regions, business and sectors and analyzes initiatives with concrete targets, the capacity to deliver and those with larger potential for emission reductions. The publication includes calculations of the reductions relative to a business-as-usual scenario that aims to take account of current government policies. Commenting on the report, Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, emphasized that “initiatives by cities, businesses and industrial sectors to cut emissions can contribute and support national emission commitments, bringing significant savings of [carbon dioxide] equivalent.”

The publication consists of eight main sections addressing, inter alia: non-state climate initiatives; methodology; company initiatives; initiatives of cities and regions; sectoral initiatives; and an overlap analysis. The section on company initiatives includes a description of selected initiatives and their quantification through determining company GHG emissions, projecting company emissions to 2020 and estimating their impact. The section on initiatives of cities and regions describes and quantifies selected initiatives, whereas the section on sectoral initiatives covers a range of initiatives, including those in the fields of energy efficiency, oil and gas, forestry, agriculture and finance. [Publication: Climate Commitments of Subnational Actors and Business: A Quantitative Assessment of their Emission Reduction Impact] [UNEP Press Release] [UNEP Report Webpage]