Number: 2016-03
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation previously adopted Resolution 10 in 1998, urging governments, corporations, and others to respond to the scientific consensus on the threat posed by human-induced global climate change by adopting appropriate domestic and international policies to enhance scientific research, promote public awareness, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and
WHEREAS, climate change is already impacting the nation’s wildlife due to its ability to exacerbate extreme weather events, disrupt migratory patterns, ecosystem functions and critical biological events, diminish food supplies, and cause other grave impacts; and
WHEREAS, climate change is leading to rapid shifts in the landscapes and seascapes American wildlife depend on, placing numerous species at risk of extinction within this century if current rates of emissions continue unabated; and
WHEREAS, 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal climate agreement in Paris in December 2015, representing international consensus to limit the warming of global average temperatures to no more than 2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and aspiring to a limit of 1.5° Celsius; and
WHEREAS, in order to meet its obligations under the Paris Agreement, the United States has submitted its nationally determined contribution, which is an economy-wide target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels in 2025 with a promise to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by 28%; and
WHEREAS, the Paris Agreement makes clear that the efforts of all parties to meet the aspirational goal will represent a progression over time.
WHEREAS, economists and policy experts, including those who work at international policy organizations like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund argue that the most efficient and cost effective way to swiftly reduce carbon emissions in all major emiting sectors is through setting a price on carbon.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in its Annual Meeting assembled June 16-18, 2016 in Estes Park, Colorado, hereby supports limiting the increase in average global temperatures to 2° Celsius over pre-industrial levels, and aspiring to a 1.5° Celsius limit, thereby significantly reducing the impacts of climate change to wildlife; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls on the United States to strengthen its nationally determined contributions over time, in line with an aspirational goal of a 1.5° Celsius limit; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges Congress, the Administration, States, and localities to pursue policies that enable the United States to meet these commitments; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation believes that to achieve needed emissions reductions in a timely manner, policies should include setting—through new federal (and state) legislation as well as existing authority—a price on carbon throughout the economy or across multiple sectors, which would efficiently and cost-effectively maximize carbon pollution reductions.