Spotlight - Taking Action

Lia Cairone, Assistant Deputy Director, Policy, NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability – introduced by Connie Rensink

            Ms. Cairone focused on what NYC is doing to bring down carbon emissions. “New York,” she told us, “is committed to the Paris Agreement of having a total emissions level of 1.5% by 2030, and has reduced emissions in large city buildings from their current level by 17 % since 2017.” The plan is to achieve an 80% reduction by 2050. Efforts are being made to expand bike lanes by 50 miles each year, and to double the number of cyclists by 2020, as well as to accelerate the use of solar energy.

            Nonetheless, the outlook is grim. There is no historical precedent for what we are facing. Even if we lower current and future emissions, cumulative past emissions are still present in the atmosphere. For a 50% chance of reaching the goal of carbon neutrality, emissions must reach net 0% by 2038. Current commitments would still raise our level of warming to a catastrophic 3%, as even 2% would disrupt all human activity. We are not on track. Change is only possible if we make it an urgent priority.