Maryland Commission on Climate Change - Archive of Reports
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The 2022 Commission on Climate Change Annual Report includes recommendations to the executive branch and the General Assembly on how to meet Maryland’s Greenhouse Gas Admission goals, the most progressive in the nation.
2021 Annual Report
The 2021 Commission on Climate Change Annual Report includes more than 50 recommendations to guide state agency leaders, elected officials, legislators, and other stakeholders to meet Maryland’s 2030 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act Plan goals and the commission’s recommendation that the state should achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy-wide by 2045. It also features a plan that identifies low-cost pathways for decarbonizing the residential and commercial buildings sectors.
Maryland and the United States confronted unprecedented challenges in 2020. As the climate crisis continues to grow, the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated public health and economic emergencies and exacerbated economic, social, and racial inequities that have plagued disadvantaged and overburdened communities for decades. Amid these mounting crises and a nationwide reckoning with structural racism, the Maryland Commission on Climate Change continued its work to improve Maryland’s response to climate change. Through this report, the Commission offers a series of recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly to enhance the state’s efforts in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, to better incorporate environmental and climate justice into the state’s climate approach, and to more meaningfully engage with disadvantaged and overburdened communities.
This report begins with a history of climate action in Maryland and of the Commission itself, together with an update to the science of climate change in Maryland based on recent findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It emphasizes the urgency of adopting a state plan to reduce Green House Gas emissions. In 2015, the MCCC recommended the Green House Gas Emissions Reduction Act (GGRA) be reauthorized with a new goal requiring a 40 percent reduction of emissions from 2006. Recommendations to the Commission by its four working groups form the crux of the report.
2018 Annual ReportThis report contains an update on the science of climate change; how it is already impacting Maryland’s ecosystems, infrastructure, and socioeconomic framework; and how it is expected to impact the State in the future. It culminates in progress being made to address these projections and the state’s goals at various points along the timeline, and the Commission’s recommendations to state agencies to continue the path forward. This report includes an update on the science of climate change; how the changing climate is already impacting Maryland’s ecosystems, infrastructure, and socioeconomic framework; and how it is expected to impact the state in the future. It culminates in progress being made to address the projected changes and the state’s emission reduction requirements at various points along the timeline, and the Commission’s recommendations.This report contains a background on the history and structure of the Commission, updates on the progress of science and climate action in the global and local community, and an examination of potential and realized climate impacts to the state culminating with the Commission’s recommendations for future state climate action. This report provides background and recommendations on key challenges and opportunities related to the state of Maryland’s response to climate change. The report is also intended to promote a structured, predictable, and adaptive process for monitoring and managing the state’s climate actions and policy decisions.
