The Climate Group and CDP are united in their firm belief on the vital role that state and regional governments play in driving climate action and delivering sustainable economies that avoid dangerous climate change and lead to a net-zero emissions world. State and regional government’s climate action is fundamental to delivering the Paris Agreement and the disclosed data drives CDP’s analytical benchmarking, commitment tracking and data management; and The Climate Group’s governments networks, peer learning, policy work and promotion of climate leadership.

Increase Measurement Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems for states and regions to take stock of their emissions and develop more targeted and effective emissions reduction efforts, both within and beyond state borders.

- All 4 Australian regions that disclosed in 2017 are committed to achieving zero net emissions by 2050, an example that disclosing states and regions are in general more ambitious than their national counterparts.

-Encourage all regions to set and disclose more ambitious public mid-term and long-term GHG reduction targets and disclose their progress.

The Annual Disclosure 2017 Update, calculated that cumulative savings by comparing disclosed GHG emissions by states and regions to the IEA’s reference technology scenario (RTS) will account for 21.9 GtCO2e by 2050. And short-term ambition is also compatible with a 2°C world. However, ambitious long-term targets are needed to match the rate of decarbonization required up to 2050. For further analysis, please refer to the Annual Disclosure Annex, available at: TheClimateGroup.org/Annual-Disclosure.

Since the released of the first Annual Disclosure Report in 2015, states and regions have (i) on average achieved an 8.5% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to the state and regional governments' base years, (ii) disclosed climate targets backed by over 2,300 climate actions, spanning ten different sectors (agriculture, buildings and lighting, energy, finance and economy, governance, industry, land use, transport, waste and water), an 80% increase on 2016, and (iii) committed to 290 targets for emissions reductions, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

It also calculates annual and cumulative emissions savings by comparing the projected GHG emissions disclosed by states and regions to a set of emissions scenarios for the years 2020, 2030 and 2050. For the Annual Disclosure 2017 Update, projections of the disclosed GHG emissions were compared to three scenarios calculated using data and analysis from the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Energy Technologies Perspectives 2017 (ETP 2017) report – including a 2°C scenario (2DS) and a beyond 2°C scenario (B2DS).