In 2013, President Obama announced the Climate Action Plan (CAP), the first comprehensive plan of the United States to address climate change. The CAP outlines 75 climate-related goals and respective actions that are subsumed under three pillars: mitigation, adaptation and international cooperation.

There has been marked progress on many items in the CAP over the last two years. Major success factors include the high-level political ownership, the long-term nature of the plan, the strategic approach behind the plan, and its high visibility at the national and international level.

The CAP sends a strong signal for a new climate agreement to be reached in Paris in 2015.