Louisiana joins international campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) -- Louisiana has joined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's "Race to Zero" campaign. It's a global effort of thousands of governments, higher education institutions, and businesses that are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The state has already committed to avoiding further worsening the effects of climate change in a few different ways. Gov. Edwards signed an executive order in 2020 that commits Louisiana to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.

The governor also launched a Climate Initiatives Task Force, and in May joined the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to state-led action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Race to Zero is an effort to unite leaders across the world from businesses, cities, states, regions, investors, and universities to prevent worsening impacts from climate change, while also creating good jobs, and opening the door for inclusive, sustainable growth in a decarbonizing economy.

“In just a few weeks, the nations of the world will reunite once again at #COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland to tackle climate change through diplomacy, commitments, policies, and actions to help the world remain below 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming to avoid catastrophic climate change impacts. Ahead of that meeting, and in keeping with the greenhouse gas reduction commitments established in my Climate Initiatives Task Force executive order, I am proud to announce Louisiana has joined the global ‘Race to Zero’ campaign,” Gov. Edwards said. “No state in our country is more adversely impacted by climate change than Louisiana – in just the last year alone we’ve experienced major hurricanes, flash flooding and a severe winter storm. But at the same time, no state is better positioned to be a leader in reducing carbon emissions and bolstering coastal resiliency.”

For the past ten months, Louisiana’s Climate Initiatives Task Force has been exploring these very issues as it develops a plan for climate action in our state. In July, the Race to Zero’s High-Level Champions, Nigel Topping and Gonzalo Muñoz, along with British Consul General Richard Hyde, visited Louisiana to discuss shared goals for climate action, and to invite Louisiana to join the campaign.

To learn about the work of the Louisiana Climate Initiatives Task Force, click here.