Accountability

We uphold a commitment to subnational climate accountability.

Accountability is an important strategic pillar of the Under2 Coalition. Since 2017, we've upheld a commitment to transparent and regular disclosure, alignment with emerging global credibility standards and building capacity to monitor, evaluate and measure net zero progress.

Under2 Coalition Ambition Tracker

Since 2022, the Under2 Coalition has supplemented the CDP Annual Disclosure with the Under2 Coalition Ambition Tracker to measure progress specifically on the 2021 Under2 net zero MoU. The Under2 Coalition has launched the Under2 Coalition global members map on the basis of this data.

We encourage states and regions to disclose using all available platforms and opportunities to maintain their commitment to growing robust data and evidence towards subnational climate action leadership.

Transparent and regular reporting

As part of their commitment to the Under2 Coalition, states, regions and provinces pursue their own unique set of actions and plans, reporting them publicly and to the Under2 Coalition secretariat via the Under2 Ambition Tracker.

Since 2017, we've prioritised transparent reporting – initially in partnership with CDP – supporting subnational governments to report to the CDP global platform to measure, manage and disclosure their environmental impact.

In 2022, 108 states and regional governments, representing 543 million people, disclosed their climate data through CDP. This data is used by the UNFCCC’s Global Climate Action Portal, which recognizes climate actions and commitments made by actors around the globe. You can also find the Under2 Coalition’s report records on the Global Climate Action Portal.

Measuring Progress

The Under2 Coalition aims to drive transparency and accountability through self-reported data by state and regional governments. Data submitted by governments plays a key role in informing net zero commitments made at the subnational level globally.

In order to capture this data, we developed the Under2 Coalition Ambition Tracker. The data is then analysed using an in house net zero verification model developed using credibility standards set by reputable agencies such as Oxford and ECIU’s Net Zero terminology and recommendations set by the Paris Agreement and now global standards as set by the UNFCCC.

While leading with global standards, the Under2 Coalition recognises diverse terminology, taxonomies and institutional structures which subnational governments engage with in efforts to achieve net zero emissions. Outputs produced from data received by Under2 governments, include:

Alignment with globally emerging credibility standards

Race to Zero and Race to Resilience

The Under2 Coalition is an official partner of UNFCCC's Race to Zero campaign.

This UN-backed global campaign rallies non-state actors – including companies, cities, regions, financial institutions and educational establishments – to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global emissions by 2030 and deliver a healthier, fairer zero carbon world.

All Race to Zero members are committed to the same overarching goal: reducing emissions across all scopes swiftly and fairly in line with the Paris Agreement, with transparent action plans and robust near-term targets. 52 states and regions are part of the Race to Zero all committed to ‘pledge’, ‘plan’, ‘proceed’, ‘publish’ and ‘persuade’.

Integrity Matters for States and Regions

In 2022, the United Nations published the ‘Integrity Matters' report outlining 10 recommendations for net zero emissions targets set by non-state entities. These standards aim to accelerate credible and accountable progress towards the 1.5°C goal.

Based on these recommendations, the UN Secretary-General issued a call to action and announced plans to host the Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023 open only to those that have shown leadership aligned with the UN’s recommendations. In response to this call, the Under2 Coalition, the largest global network of subnational governments committed to net zero emissions by 2050, worked closely with states and regions to identify those meeting the standards. Nearly a fifth of the coalition responded to this call with their transition plans.