ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

oil and gas sector) were subsequently finalized in 2016, as was an agreement
by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol to phase down global hydrofluorocarbon
use (UNEP 2016). If included, these would move the 2016 projection
below its current position in Figure 7-28.
These projections show that recent Administration actions on emission-reduction
policies are already moving the United States toward its targets.
The additional implementation of policies planned as of 2016 will put
the economy on track to meet the 2020 target and will build a foundation for
meeting the 2025 target. Under this scenario, this level of emission reduction
will occur even while the economy is projected to grow by 50 percent.
American Leadership in
International Cooperation
As climate change mitigation is a global public good, international
cooperation is essential for an effective and economically efficient solution.
The President’s ambition and dedication to addressing climate change have
helped accentuate the United States’ position as a global leader on this
issue. On December 12, 2015, more than 190 countries agreed to the most
ambitious climate change mitigation goals in history. The Paris Agreement
entered into force in November 2016, 30 days after the date on which the
required threshold (at least 55 Parties, accounting for at least 55 percent of
global greenhouse gas emissions) was officially met. The Agreement establishes
a long-term, durable global framework to reduce global greenhouse
gas emissions where, for the first time ever, all participating countries commit
to putting forward nationally determined contributions. The Agreement
lays the foundation for countries to work together to put the world on a path
to keeping climate warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing
efforts to limit the increase even more. The nationally determined contributions
agreed to in Paris, though historic, will not halt climate change on their
own, but the Paris Agreement provides a framework for progress toward
that goal.36
In the lead up to the Paris Agreement in 2015, the United States
worked bilaterally with many countries to build support for an ambitious
agreement. Most notably, starting in 2013, the United States and China
intensified their climate cooperation and, in November 2014, President
36 Building on the historic Paris Agreement, in October 2016, 191 members of the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) meeting in Montreal, Canada adopted a market-based
measure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from international aviation – aviation comprises
two percent of global carbon emissions, but was not covered by the Paris Agreement. Like
other aspects of climate change mitigation, reducing aviation emissions requires international
cooperation.
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