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Statement by John P. Holdren on the IPCC's Working Group Report on Climate-Change Mitigation

Summary: 
Statement by Assistant to the President for Science & Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy Dr. John P. Holdren on the Release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group III Report on climate-change mitigation.

Statement by Assistant to the President for Science & Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy Dr. John P. Holdren on the Release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group III Report on climate-change mitigation:

“The facts are clear—the more we and other countries do to curb climate change and prepare for the climate-change impacts that can no longer be avoided, the less suffering will be inflicted on our communities and on our children and grandchildren. 

The IPCC's new report highlights in stark reality the magnitude and urgency of the climate challenge. It shows, even more compellingly than previous studies, that the longer society waits to implement strong measures to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, the more costly and difficult it will become to limit climate change to less than catastrophic levels.

The Obama Administration is committed to leading efforts to address this global challenge, both by example and by persuasion. And through the concrete steps laid out in President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, real progress is already being made.

In the last year alone, the Administration has begun the development of new fuel-economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles; set the stage for limiting greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil-fueled power plants; unveiled a national strategy for reducing methane emissions; finalized two sets of energy-efficiency standards; launched a Quadrennial Energy Review process to provide a comprehensive basis for national energy policy, starting with the challenges facing our aging energy infrastructure; and launched a Climate Data Initiative to help communities, businesses, and individuals increase their preparedness for and resilience against climate change.

We are also intensifying our engagement with other countries around the world, in both bilateral and multilateral venues, in order to boost coordination and cooperation on emissions-reductions targets and the policies and technologies for achieving them. This latest IPCC report provides further impetus and guidance for these efforts.”

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