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Appendix B. Climate Change B.1 Global Goal to Limit Warming to 1.5°C The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading international scientific body on climate change, released a report62 in mid -2018 shifting the threshold at which significant and potentially irreversible climate change impacts occur from 2°C to 1.5°C of average global temperature increase above pre -industrial levels. The IPCC report promotes immediate actions to meet the 1.5°C threshold to prevent or slow these impacts. Many of the impacts of warming up to and beyond 1.5°C, and some potential impacts of mitigation actions required to limit warming to 1.5°C, fall disproportionately on low income and socially vulnerable people. Substantial changes in regional climate occur between 1.5°C and 2°C of global average temperature increase. For example, the number of people exposed to severe heat waves triples. Keeping temperatures at 1.5°C as compared to a 2°C warming would result in global reductions in risk, including: • Sea level rise: Decreasing global rate of rise by approximately 3.9 inches • Heat waves: Decreasing the number of people being frequently exposed by 420 million worldwide • Heavy precipitation and drought: Reducing intensity and frequency worldwide • Drinking water: Lowering the number of people without access to drinking water by 50 percent Limiting warming to 1.5°C will require changes by 2050, including: • Eliminating GHG emissions in our cities • Deep reductions in global emissions of non -0O2 climate pollutants, particularly methane • Reducing oil use by 32-74 percent • Reducing natural gas use by 13-60 percent • Leveraging renewables to supply 36-97 percent of energy • Making buildings and transportation energy efficient • Implementing adaptation options, including coastal defense and hardening, efficient irrigation, green infrastructure, and disaster risk management B.2 State and Local Goals and Targets California has some of the most aggressive climate action goals in the United States. The State has set a goal of emissions reductions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 (or 49 percent below 2005 levels). To achieve this, California has created the following strategies: • Increase renewable electricity production to 50 percent • Reduce petroleum use by 50 percent in vehicles • Double energy efficiency savings at existing buildings • Reduce GHG emissions from natural and working lands • Reduce short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and fluorinated gases • Make California more resilient to climate change in accordance with California's 2018 Safeguarding California Plan City of Redwood City Climate Action Plan 75