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ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT

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Obama and President Xi made a surprise announcement of their countries’<br />

respective post-2020 climate targets. President Obama announced the<br />

ambitious U.S. goal to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005<br />

levels by 2025, and China committed for the first time to implement policies<br />

leading to a peak in its carbon dioxide emissions around 2030 and an<br />

increase in the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption.<br />

Further, in September 2015, President Obama and President Xi reaffirmed<br />

their commitment to a successful outcome in Paris, a shared determination<br />

to move ahead decisively in implementing domestic climate policies,<br />

strengthening bilateral coordination and cooperation on climate change and<br />

promoting sustainable development. In addition to working closely with<br />

China, the United States worked hand-in-hand with a broad range of countries<br />

to increase support for international climate action and an ambitious<br />

agreement in Paris, including with Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Mexico,<br />

small islands, and many others.<br />

The United States has remained a leader in the global effort to mobilize<br />

public and private finance for mitigation and adaptation. Since the<br />

15 th Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the United Nations Framework<br />

Convention on Climate Change in December 2009, the United States<br />

has increased its climate financing by fourfold for developing countries<br />

(Department of State 2016a). In November 2014, President Obama pledged<br />

that the United States would contribute $3 billion to the Green Climate<br />

Fund to reduce carbon pollution and strengthen resilience in developing<br />

countries, the largest pledge of any country. This strong U.S. pledge helped<br />

increase the number and ambition of other countries’ contributions, and<br />

U.S. leadership helped propel initial capitalization of the fund to over $10<br />

billion, a threshold seen by stakeholders as demonstrating serious donor<br />

commitment.<br />

At the Paris Conference, Secretary of State John Kerry announced<br />

that the United States would double its grant-based public climate finance<br />

for adaptation by 2020. As of 2014, the United States had invested more<br />

than $400 million a year of grant-based resources for climate adaptation in<br />

developing countries, providing support to vulnerable countries to reduce<br />

climate risks in key areas including infrastructure, agriculture, health, and<br />

water services. The commitment that the United States and other countries<br />

have shown to mobilizing climate finance will help to support developing<br />

countries’ transitions to low-carbon growth paths.<br />

One of the most important components of the landmark Paris<br />

Agreement is that, by sending a strong signal to the private sector that the<br />

global economy is transitioning toward clean energy, the Agreement will<br />

foster innovation to allow the United States to achieve its climate objectives<br />

Addressing Climate Change | 475

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