Climate Change: State Department Did Not Track Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Delegation Travel to Meetings 26 and 27 of the United Nations Conference of the Parties
Fast Facts
Each year, the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties convenes to address climate change and agree on goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. President Biden, U.S. delegates, and others traveled by air to attend the 26th Conference in 2021 and the 27th Conference in 2022.
An executive order requires federal agencies to track and reduce emissions from air travel and other sources with the goal of achieving net-zero government emissions by 2050. However, the State Department did not calculate emissions from travel to these conferences.
We recommended that State consistently estimate emissions from air travel.
Highlights
What GAO Found
According to the State Department's official list, 191 people from the Executive Branch traveled to the 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) as members of the U.S. delegation. The official list for 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) reported that 259 people from the Executive Branch were in the U.S. delegation.
According to the United Kingdom government's report, greenhouse gas emissions from aviation travel to COP26 were significant in comparison to estimated total emissions from the event. According to this report, approximately 72 percent of the greenhouse gas calculated residual emissions from the event came from international aviation.
State officials told GAO that they did not have a systematic way to calculate greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. delegation travel to the United Nation's Conference of the Parties 26 and 27 or any past meetings of the Conference of the Parties. State is developing methods to estimate future travel emissions, according to State officials.
Federal agencies are required by executive order to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation travel and other sources. Specifically, the December 2021 Executive Order 14057 on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs through Federal Sustainability sets an overall goal for the federal government to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy wide by no later than 2050.
Why GAO Did This Study
Meetings of the United Nation's Conference of the Parties are held to develop and implement multilateral greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals, among other activities. The State Department leads the U.S. delegation to these meetings. The Executive Order 14057 on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs through Federal Sustainability established greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals for State and other federal agencies. These goals include greenhouse gas emissions reductions from aviation travel. For State and other federal agencies, the first step in meeting these goals is understanding U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from air travel and other sources, including U.S. delegation air travel to meetings of the United Nation's Conference of the Parties.
This report (1) describes U.S. delegation travel to COP26 in 2021 and COP27 in 2022, (2) describes what is known about greenhouse gas emissions from aviation travel to COP26 and COP27, (3) examines State's efforts to track greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. delegation travel, and (4) describes requirements to limit federal agency greenhouse gas emissions from aviation travel. To examine the greenhouse gases emitted to transport the U.S. delegations to COP26 and COP27, among other things, we conducted a comprehensive literature search to determine what information was publicly available about COP26 and COP27 attendance and travel, and interviewed State officials about COP26 attendance, travel, and their methodology, if any, for calculating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from travel to the conferences.
Recommendations
The Secretary of State should ensure that the State Department consistently estimates greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. delegation travel to meetings of the UN Conferences of the Parties to align with the goals of Executive Order 14057.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of State | The Secretary of State should ensure that the State Department consistently estimates greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. delegation travel to meetings of the UN Conferences of the Parties to align with the goals of Executive Order 14057. (Recommendation 1) |
In a letter to GAO dated January 8, 2024, the Department of State said that it has completed a partial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory for both its domestic and international operations. The letter said that this emissions inventory includes estimates of GHG emissions from all of the Department's official travel during 2020, 2021, and 2022 that was conducted via the federally contracted travel management booking system. By developing an inventory, the Department intends to consistently estimate GHG emissions from not only State Department delegation travel to annual UN Climate Change Conferences, but all Department official travel in future years. GAO will follow-up with the Department of State to determine if it has implemented a complete emissions inventory to consistently estimate greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. delegation travel to meetings of the UN Conferences of the Parties.
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