RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL — The U.S. Climate Alliance today released its Annual Report, Pressing Forward: Governors’ Enduring Fight for a Resilient and Sustainable Future, detailing how its members are achieving record climate pollution reductions, driving economic growth, building the clean energy and clean technology future, and charting a path forward to save Americans trillions of dollars.
“We are resilient, determined, and undaunted. And most importantly, our states are standing together,” said Alliance co-chairs Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and California Governor Gavin Newsom in their Annual Report message. “Americans want a cleaner, safer, healthier future and that’s what we will continue delivering. No matter the obstacles, we are pressing forward.”
The report was released today by Governor Evers and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, during a press conference at the COP30 Local Leaders Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the world’s mayors, governors, and subnational leaders are showcasing how local action is driving global climate progress. Next week, the Alliance will lead a delegation of top state leaders to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, where they will send a clear message to the international community that climate action in the U.S. cannot be stopped. Learn more about the U.S. delegation of more than 100 local leaders in Brazil here.
Slashing Climate Pollution, Growing the Economy
Analysis included in the report, previewed by New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Delaware Governor Matt Meyer during Climate Week NYC, finds that the Alliance members have collectively reduced net greenhouse gas emissions 24 percent below 2005 levels, while increasing their collective GDP by 34 percent. The figures, updated to reflect progress in 2023, continue the coalition’s trend of declining emissions over the last 18 years and put its near-term target of reducing net emissions 26 percent by 2025 within reach. Moreover, compared to the rest of the country, Alliance members are continuing to reduce emissions faster while employing more clean energy workers, achieving lower levels of harmful air pollutants, and executing more pre-disaster planning.
The Alliance’s long-term progress has been driven primarily by the transition to cleaner electricity generation, which has helped cut the coalition’s electricity sector emissions 45 percent as of 2023. This represents an eight percent decrease over 2022 levels — the largest year-on-year reduction in this sector over the last decade, outside of 2020. Emissions from the transportation sector, which remains the Alliance’s largest source of emissions, have also decreased 17 percent below 2005 levels. Of the nation’s registered zero-emission vehicles, 70 percent are in Alliance states, supported by 68 percent of all publicly available EV chargers.
Advancing Action, Transforming Markets
The report also provides hundreds of examples across sectors of how the coalition’s member states and territories are raising ambition, while advancing, sharing, and scaling the most impactful climate solutions. In fact, since launching the Alliance more than eight years ago, members have advanced more than 2,300 bold actions and innovative policies to tackle climate pollution and build resilience to the impacts of climate change. In the last year alone, Alliance members have:
Thanks to these and other efforts, U.S. markets are rapidly transforming toward cleaner technologies and cleaner energy. The nation’s heat pump sales outpaced gas furnaces by 32 percent in 2024 — beating the prior year’s record-setting lead of 21 percent. More than 1.5 million electric vehicles were sold in 2024, more than five times higher than 2020 totals. Nearly two-thirds of electricity generation currently under construction and expected to come online through 2031 will be powered by solar and wind. And by the end of 2024, more than 5 million American households had installed rooftop solar, lowering their electricity costs while strengthening the grid.
Charting a Path Forward, Saving Americans Money
Importantly, the report also identifies a pathway to help mitigate the loss of federal ambition over the coming years. This pathway reflects broad adoption of state-level policy solutions already being developed or implemented in many Alliance states that aim to save households money, cut harmful pollution, and protect communities. What’s more, this analysis finds that transitioning to a net-zero economy by 2050 would deliver significant monetary benefits that vastly outweigh the costs.
In fact, it’s estimated that achieving the Alliance’s collective climate goals could lead to trillions of dollars of cumulative net benefits to Americans over the coming years — growing from $11 billion in annual net savings by 2030 to $103 billion by 2035, and $185 billion by 2050. These savings are based on improved public health, reduced spending on fossil fuels, and avoided climate damages. Notably, the analysis does not include a broad array of additional benefits likely to accrue from achieving net-zero emissions, such as job creation, economic growth, and non-air-quality public health benefits.
Reaffirming the Scientific Consensus
Finally, in the face of attempts by the federal government to deny, obstruct, and hide basic science, this report lays out the clear scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the primary driver of the climate crisis. It reaffirms Alliance governors’ commitment to the essential role of science in mitigating climate change and to science-based decision-making in their states.
The full Annual Report and Executive Summary can be read here.
Launched in 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the U.S. federal government’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28 percent by 2025, 50-52 percent by 2030, and 61-66 percent by 2035, all below 2005 levels, and collectively achieve overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as practicable, and no later than 2050.
The Alliance’s states and territories continue to advance innovative and impactful climate solutions to grow the economy, create jobs, and protect public health, and have a long record of action and results. In fact, the latest data shows that as of 2023, the Alliance has reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent below 2005 levels, while increasing collective GDP by 34 percent, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal of reducing collective greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
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