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Nature 438, 301-302 (17 November 2005) | doi:10.1038/438301a; Published online 16 November 2005

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Environmental policy: Regional commitment to reducing emissions

Brendan Fisher1 & Robert Costanza1

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Local policy in the United States goes some way towards countering anthropogenic climate change.

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The non-participation of the United States in the recently ratified Kyoto Protocol1 is a matter for global concern because it is estimated that the country produces 24% of all greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide2. Here we analyse the commitment of individual states and municipalities to addressing this problem and find that, despite the federal policy, between 24 and 35% of the US population are currently (or soon will be) engaged in policies directed towards significantly reducing anthropogenic climate change. The importance of this sub-national effort, which we estimate corresponds to 27–49% of the gross domestic product, will depend — like the targets adopted in Kyoto — on the real reductions achieved in greenhouse-gas emissions.

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