The historic win for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is sparking celebration among U.S. investors, companies and advocates as a new era for bold climate action takes hold. From clean-tech entrepreneurs who have long nurtured the promise of innovation to climate justice advocates seeking a fair share in a clean energy transition, we now have a chance to restore climate leadership in the U.S. and around the world.
Never before has climate change been so prominent in a presidential election and never before has such a detailed climate action plan been brought forward by a presidential candidate.
While the Biden administration will have to grapple immediately to combat the pandemic, he must also act swiftly on the climate crisis. His proposal, Plan for Climate Change and Environmental Justice, offers the promise of a more just, and sustainable net-zero emissions future, addressing some of the rampant racial inequities and inequalities in our communities. Whether unhealthy air or water quality or the deadly impacts of rising temperatures, communities of color have long experienced a disproportionate level of suffering.
The new administration can count on broad support from the business community who has spent the past four years, trying to fill the gap of the lack of federal climate leadership, from setting ambitious goals, purchasing record amounts of renewable energy to advocating for climate action at the state and federal level. It will also benefit from the fact that a vast bipartisan majority of the American people support decisive, climate-smart policies, including tougher vehicle fuel efficiency standards and stronger restrictions on power plant emissions.
Americans and the business community are eager for our federal leaders to get to work. We highlight 10 steps the administration can take to help drive forward his plan.
1/ Rejoin the Paris Agreement
Biden wisely pledged that on his first day in office he would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. As co-founder of We Are Still In, which includes nearly 4,000 business, state and community leaders, Ceres will be glad to declare that ‘We are Back In.’ Biden also committed to convene a world summit to engage leaders of carbon-emitting countries to set more ambitious climate pledges, a move that would help to rebuild the climate credibility of the U.S. in the world.
2/ Build back better with a climate-smart recovery
By prioritizing an economic recovery that creates sustainable infrastructure, fosters clean energy innovation and creates good jobs, the U.S. could emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic more resilient and competitive. A climate-smart recovery could jumpstart Biden’s ambitious plan, which calls for 100% clean electricity by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2050. Biden’s 2009 experience in passing the largest clean energy stimulus package in history puts him in a good position to support the key sector that will usher in the clean energy economy of the future.
3/ Protect disadvantaged communities from environmental harm
Biden promised to adopt key environmental justice measures that would slash emissions and better provide cleaner air and water for communities— focusing on addressing the climate and other environmental impacts that disproportionately affect low-income and communities of color. Biden’s pledge to commit 40% of clean energy funds to disadvantaged communities and create an environmental justice division within the Department of Justice to increase enforcement against major polluters will help improve the lives of those who have long suffered from environmental harm and more recently, the ravages of the pandemic.
4/ Restore critical environmental protections
More than 125 environmental rules and regulations were rolled back by the Trump administration. Many of these included standards that the Obama-Biden administration put in place that drew significant private sector support, such as the Clean Power Plan, rules to curb methane emissions and carbon emissions from coal and gas-fired plants, standards for consumer appliance efficiency and fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and heavy duty trucks. As the Biden Administration restores the most significant of these in short order it can count on widespread public and private sector support.
5/ Address climate risk as the systemic financial risk it is
No one investor, company or policymaker can drive the systems change we need to enable large-scale climate action. U.S. regulators including the Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission must acknowledge the threat of climate change as a systemic financial risk. The first step for regulators should be to establish mandatory, consistent, industry-wide climate risk disclosure. This will send a clear market signal—providing investors and companies with the information they need to understand and address their exposure to climate risk.
6/ Spur the electric vehicle revolution
Biden can help propel America’s transition to a clean transportation future, adding momentum to the bold steps states are already taking, including the largest multi-state clean transportation collaboration, announced earlier this year, and California’s decision to ban gas-powered cars by 2035. We welcome his pledge to work with local and state governments to install 500,000 new electric-vehicle charging stations nationwide by 2030 or extend electric vehicle tax credits.
7/ Protect biodiversity and public lands
Biden has not underestimated how critical the natural world is to our planet’s well-being and our economic prosperity. His plan supports conserving 30% of public lands and waters by 2030 to protect biodiversity and public lands. Recognizing we have no time to lose, these and other federal actions to implement natural climate solutions and end deforestation are critical to meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
8/ Require Cabinet-level secretaries to reduce emissions through procurement
As the U.S. is the second largest greenhouse gas emitter and the single largest purchaser of goods and services in the world, we welcome Biden’s commitment to require all Cabinet-level secretaries to take the appropriate steps to rapidly reduce the country’s emissions and use the federal government’s buying power to propel the shift to climate-friendly supply chains and markets. These actions will be critical to the U.S. doing its part to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to no more than 1.5-degrees Celsius.
9/ Adopt an economy-wide price on carbon
Over the last several years, bipartisan momentum has been growing behind an economy-wide price on carbon as a way to help the U.S. make a smooth transition to the net-zero emissions economy. Biden has signaled support for a market-based approach, which also has the backing of major investors and companies. Last year, 75 businesses went to Capitol Hill to call on Congress to support carbon pricing. Vital to any proposal will be provisions expressly designed to meet the unaddressed needs of underserved communities through the equitable distribution of anticipated dividends and other specific environmental benefits which for too long have been ignored. The Biden Administration is perfectly positioned to support a fair and effective carbon pricing scheme.
10/ Integrate environmental justice into government decision-making
Biden has promised to take into account the interests of underserved communities in government decision-making and planning - from assessing the environmental impacts of buildings and highways to other infrastructure projects and environmental issues. His administration will have the opportunity to ensure those most impacted by these decisions and environmental justice advocates have a seat at the table at all National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) proceedings.
This is what climate leadership could look like.
We, and the investors, companies and advocates with whom we work, are ready to help the new Biden administration tackle the climate crisis and build a more stable, just and sustainable world. It will take all of us.
Today is truly a new day for climate action. Let’s lead like never before.