Many U.S. Leaders Still All In for Climate Action

Ten days after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared 2024 to be the warmest year on record, President Trump signed an Executive Order withdrawing the United States–the country with the largest cumulative emissions of greenhouse gases–from the Paris Agreement, the global accord adopted by nearly every nation to combat climate change.

Soon after the announcement, the Trump Administration fired 800 staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and eliminated its research team responsible for annually reporting global surface temperatures.

Far from being silenced, however, individuals and groups from across the United States have stepped forward to assert that while the federal government is retreating, they themselves have not left the Paris Agreement. To the contrary, people are rolling up their sleeves for concrete actions to accelerate the unstoppable roll-out of clean energy.

One of the most expansive coalitions in support of climate action in the United States is America Is All In. Growing out of the “We are still in” declaration signed by more than 4,000 U.S. leaders after the Trump Administration pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement in 2017, the coalition’s members include a diverse array of state and local governments, businesses, schools, tribal nations, health organizations, faith groups, and community–based organizations. They represent nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population and three-quarters of U.S. GDP.

The coalition released a statement on the ninth anniversary of the Paris Agreement in December 2024, just weeks before Pres. Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal, reaffirming their commitment to ambitious, non-federal climate action. In the sign-on statement, hundreds of members pledged to continue accelerating climate progress in order to meet the obligations of the Paris Agreement, namely cutting U.S. emissions in half by 2030 from 2005 levels, and reaching net zero emissions by mid-century, all while building climate resilience.

Managing co-chair of America Is All In and former EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy, said: “We stand committed to the goals of the Paris Agreement. Climate action looks different for each of us, for every sector and every community, but the future it will build is one we will all benefit from.”

The declaration from other sectors of U.S. society has garnered international attention. At a talk at the Wilson Center, a Washington, D.C.–based think tank, the president designate of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference COP30, Ambassador André Aranha Corrêa do Lago of Brazil, said, “the U.S. absence will change many things. But local governments are fully committed. If you think in GDP terms, this is big. A very strong majority of the American GDP is going to continue to follow the decision of the COP that are voluntary…. There is an openness for all the other stake holders to follow what is decided at COP as if their country were still in.”

At a recent interview during a UN event in Bridgetown, Barbados, Corrêa do Lago again emphasized, “The United States has not only institutions, entities, subnational governments that can progress independently of the central government, but they also have very important businesses, very important technology companies. There are other movements that have not been interrupted and that are driven towards combating climate change.”

In step with his proactive climate approach, President Joe Biden oversaw the release of the U.S. climate target only weeks before leaving office. This pledge committed to a 61–66 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 from 2005 levels. With Pres. Biden out of office, many non-federal actors have made the pledge their own.

The climate action leadership of sub-national actors is not unique to the United States. A global network called C40 represents some 100 mayors in the world’s leading cities, with each taking bold actions. London, for example, set a target of net zero carbon emissions by 2030. New York City now mandates that large buildings cut their carbon footprint. Rio de Janeiro requires municipal buildings to switch to renewables. Nairobi is planting millions of trees to cool streets and combat extreme weather.

In his first letter as UN Climate Change Conference president designate, Corrêa do Lago wrote, “The Brazilian culture inherited from Brazilian native Indigenous peoples the concept of mutirão. It refers to a community coming together to work on a shared task, whether harvesting, building, or supporting one another. … The presidency [of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference] is determined to serve as … a vessel in a global mutirão against climate change.” The people of the United States have indicated their willingness to be part of this mutirão.