Your 2023 Data for Climate Progress Wrapped
Welcome back to Data for Climate Progress — your one-stop shop for all things climate at Data for Progress.
Welcome back to Data for Climate Progress — your one-stop shop for all things climate at Data for Progress. Catch us here every month for our latest climate polling, juicy insights, and can’t-miss reading lists.
As always, we’d love to hear from you — drop us (Grace Adcox and Catherine Fraser) a line at gracea@dataforprogress.org and catherine@dataforprogress.org. Forwarded this email? You can subscribe below.
DFP’s 2023 Staff Retreat Is in the Books!
Earlier this month, DFP held its annual staff retreat in Washington, D.C. We had a fantastic week bonding, debriefing our work in 2023, and planning for another year of advancing the progressive movement in 2024. Before 2024 begins, though, we’re excited to take some time off to rest, read, bake, sleep, and spend quality time with friends and family. We hope you can take some time for yourself over the coming weeks, too.
Your 2023 Climate Wrapped
As 2023 draws to a close, we’re reflecting on another year of progressive climate policy and action. From advancing climate policy at the state level in Minnesota, Michigan, and New York to releasing our first report with findings from our qualitative focus groups on equitable direct air capture, Data for Progress’ Climate Team did a lot this year – if we dare say so ourselves. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter and continuing to support our work!
Now, without further ado, presenting your 2023 Data for Climate Progress wrapped, our top 23 findings from this past year:
You can find the full list of your 2023 Climate Wrapped with corresponding links here.
Voters Are Also Concerned: COP28’s Global Stocktake Finds that World Is Not On Track to Meet Paris 1.5 °C Target
After two weeks of negotiations — and more than its fair share of drama — the United Nations’ COP28 summit held in the United Arab Emirates concluded with the issuance of the first Global Stocktake. The culmination of a two-year negotiation process, the report analyzes nearly a decade of individual national climate contributions. It lays bare a growing gap between the ambitious climate goals set under the 2015 Paris Agreement and the current state of climate policies in place to meet those goals.
Following the end of COP28, new polling from Data for Progress finds voters continue to prioritize climate action, similar to findings from our pre-COP28 poll in late November. However, voter sentiments toward the Stocktake’s conclusions — especially that the world is on track to overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming — are largely negative.
When asked how they feel about the Global Stocktake’s finding that, while significant climate progress has been made since 2015, countries are not currently on track to meet the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, respondents most often indicating they feel “concerned” (42%) by this outcome, followed by worried (36%). In particular, after concern (55%) and worry (50%), Democrats report feeling “sad” (29%) in response to the Stocktake’s finding at considerably higher rates than Independents (18%) and Republicans (11%).
As Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and other delegates return to the U.S. to offer their takeaways from COP28, it is clear that voters feel climate progress is not proceeding as rapidly as desired. With 80% of the electorate reporting that they care about climate change, insufficient climate progress reflected in the Global Stocktake — including a failure to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — drives many of these same climate-conscious voters to reflect on COP28 with concern.
Read our full brief on the aftermath of COP28 here.
Americans know about solar. They don’t know the Paris Agreement., by Emily Pontecorvo (Heatmap)
The U.N. climate talks hung poorer nations out to dry, by Kate Aronoff (The New Republic)
The next front in climate activism is de-privatizing utilities by Emily Pontecorvo (Heatmap)
