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World states, provinces, and regions are leading the way when it comes to setting and meeting climate goals, and are putting the possibility of keeping global warming from surpassing 2°C within reach.

At last year's COP21 Paris climate talks, a group of 44 individual states, provinces, and regions committed to transparent climate goals, strong engagement from non-Party stakeholders, and ambitious commitments, under the Compact of States and Regions. Since then, another 18 states have joined their ranks, and together represent 443 million citizens, 3.1 GtCO2e of greenhouse gas emissions, and $12.9 trillion in GDP, equivalent to 17% of the global economy.

"The fight against climate change cannot simply be a 'top-down' strategy - climate change should also be tackled using a bottom-up approach," added Johannes Remmel, Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection, North Rhine-Westphalia. "It is therefore on us - the states and regions around the world - to incorporate climate action in all aspects of local governance."

The Compact also boasts in a new report that its disclosing governments will reduce the per-capita carbon intensity by roughly 65% by mid-century, while nearly a fifth of governments with 2020 reduction goals have already met their targets.

"The report is powerful evidence how these governments continue to go the extra mile in bold climate policies and action," explains Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in the report's foreword. "It is particularly heartening to see that some states and regions are already targeting net zero emissions. The Paris Agreement's strength rests not just on central government action but the unprecedented support and growing enthusiasm of business, investors, citizens, cities, states, provinces and regions."

The authors of the Compact's second annual report, published in partnership with CDP, claim that "our analysis illustrates how the commitments from these states, provinces and regions are putting a 2 degrees Celsius world within reach.