National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Show me the data: Renewed US climate ambition intensifies need for global emissions data

About the Talk A renewed US push for climate ambition – both at home and abroad – ups the ante for tracking and attributing global emissions to their sources. Now that the Paris Agreement is set in stone and most countries, now including the US, have enshrined mid- and longterm emissions targets, the focus over the coming years will be on implementation. Access to comprehensive and reliable emissions data will enable policy-makers to prioritize reductions where they are most needed, assess progress, and make modifications to stay on track. As non-government actors—industry, finance, investors—play an increasing role in finding climate solutions, they will also need access to information about the effectiveness of climate action. This discussion will summarize the results from President Biden's Leaders Summit on Climate, US new climate goals, and what they mean for the GHG monitoring programs and agencieslike CMS and NASA, including data gaps and needs, and how can we in the scientific community contribute

About the Speaker Kate Larsen is a Director at Rhodium Group and leads the firm’s ClimateDeck data service and international climate policy research. Kate specializes in analysis of the impacts of clean energy policy on US and international greenhouse gas emissions and strategies for decarbonizing the global economy. Prior to joining Rhodium, Kate worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality where she was Deputy Director for Energy and Climate Change and helped develop President Obama’s Climate Action Plan. From 2007 to 2013, Kate worked in the Office of Climate Change at the US Department of State, serving as a lead US negotiator in the United States climate negotiations. Prior to the State Department, Kate worked at the International Energy Agency in Paris, the World Resources Institute in Washington, and the Environmental Defense Fund in California. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of Texas, Austin.

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