In 2007, New Jersey adopted the Global Warming Response Act, which established a statewide limit of reducing New Jersey greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 2006 levels by 2050. Since then, climate change science and assessment has continued to advance. There has been more than 15 years of progress in GHG emissions trajectories and policies globally, necessitating a reevaluation of New Jersey’s target. 

The NJCCRC is analyzing how well this current target, as well as the U.S. national scale greenhouse gas emissions targets, aligns with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to keep global temperatures well below 2°C above preindustrial conditions. Our team is using the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projections of global and U.S. emissions to compare how well the U.S. and New Jersey emissions targets correspond to emissions trajectories that can limit warming to 2°C or lower.