New Jersey spans over 7 thousand square miles and is home to 9.5 million people. It is the 11th most populated state in the United States, but the 5th smallest state by land area. Present-day New Jersey was previously inhabited by the Lenni Lenape people, who were forcibly displaced by colonization in the 1700s. New Jersey is famous for its Jersey Shore — 130 miles of famously beautiful coastline — that attracts about 50 million tourists per year.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
- Temperatures in New Jersey have risen over 5 degrees (F) over the last century. New Jersey is warming faster than both the global average and the rest of the Northeast region, and temperatures are projected to increase by 3.7-6.2 degrees (F) by 2100. 15 of the state’s 20 warmest years have occurred since 2000, with winters warming almost twice as fast as summers, and the state experiencing more frequent and more intense heat waves.
- Sea level along the New Jersey coast has risen more than 16 inches since 1911, which is double the global average.
- Annual precipitation is expected to rise 6%-7% by 2100, increasing flood risk and extreme precipitation events which can damage infrastructure, contaminate drinking water, and lead to power loss.
- Warmer water causes oceans to expand and sea levels to rise. It also causes more intense and frequent storms, like hurricanes. Tropical Cyclone Ida in 2021 caused severe flooding across New Jersey equal to a 100-year storm.
- Coastal flooding poses an immediate threat to the lives and homes of many residents, as well as to the state’s economy. New Jersey has the second highest number of Superfund sites in the nation, and flooding could risk releasing hazardous and toxic waste from these sites into drinking water and the environment. With flooding comes erosion causing the land to sink into the sea. High-tide flooding is estimated to occur in Atlantic City at least 95 days a year by 2100, with a 50% chance it will occur 355 days per year.
- As wetlands and tidal marshes are lost to sea level rise, New Jersey will face the collapse of its coastal ecosystems as populations of crustaceans, fish, and birds face declines. Some of these creatures depend on the marshes for food, shelter, and protection from prey, while still others feed on the species that inhabit them.
- Additionally, rising sea levels will bring salt water farther inland ultimately intruding into the groundwater. The soil may become too salty for the trees and crops that currently grow in low-lying areas.
ENERGY
Almost all electricity in New Jersey comes from natural gas (47%) or nuclear power (44%). In 2024, these resources provided 90% of the state’s net electricity generation, and they have together provided over 90% every year since 2011. Natural gas surpassed nuclear power for the first time in 2015 as nuclear power has continued to decline following the permanent retirement of the state’s Oyster Creek power plant in 2018. New Jersey is one of nine states with no utility-scale coal-fired generation. In 2022, the state’s last two coal-fired power plants shut down. The rest of electricity generation comes from renewables (9% in 2024). The large majority of renewables is solar energy (88% of renewable generation in 2024) and New Jersey is fourteenth in the nation for total solar generation and seventh in the nation for generation from small-scale solar power systems. Biomass accounted for 12% of renewable electricity generation in 2024, and the largest food waste-to-natural gas project in the nation is currently under construction in Linden, New Jersey, scheduled to come online in late 2026. Hydropower was 0.1% and wind energy was 0.3% of total renewable electricity generation in 2024.
CLIMATE PLANS AND LEGISLATION
New Jersey’s Renewable Portfolio Standard was first adopted in 1999. The RPS was updated in 2018 with the passage of the Clean Energy Act, requiring renewables to account for 21% of the state’s electricity by 2021, 35% by 2025, and 50% by 2030.
- In 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order (Executive Order 89) establishing a state-wide Climate and Flood Resilience Program (now called the Office of Climate Resilience) and appointed a Chief Resilience Officer. The Executive Order also established the Interagency Council on Climate Resilience, which is composed of 16 agencies tasked with developing short-term and long-term action plans to promote the mitigation of climate change’s consequences and adaptation and resilience of New Jersey to climate-related challenges. Another 2019 Executive Order ( 92) raised New Jersey’s offshore wind goal to 7500 megawatts by 2035, which was raised again to 11,000 megawatts by 2040 in 2022.
- In February 2021, Governor Murphy signed an Executive Order establishing the Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy which aims to coordinate and advise all policymaking related to climate change as well as monitoring implementation of the Governor’s climate policy and targets. A November 2021 Executive Order set an interim greenhouse gas reduction target of 50% below 2006 levels by 2030, while a 2023 Executive Order sets a target for 100% clean energy by 2035.
- In September 2022, Executive Order 307 increased the offshore wind goal to 11,000 MW by 2040.
- Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 315 in 2023 set a target of 100% clean energy by 2035. New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan includes a goal to register 330,000 electric vehicles by 2035. In 2024, the state had 168,000 registered battery electric vehicles, with an additional 50,000 hybrid, making it sixth in the nation for EVs.
- In September 2024, the Governor’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy launched Landfill to Solar, an incentive program for converting landfills to solar facilities, and Governor Murphy signed legislation to further incentivize the redevelopment of brownfields across New Jersey into solar facilities.
- Governor Mikie Sherrill signed two climate-related executive orders during her first day in office declaring a state of emergency and directing agencies to accelerate clean energy development while reducing energy costs.
- Governor Sherrill signed the Power NJ Act in July 2026, launching the state’s procurement process for new nuclear energy. In April, Governor Sherill had lifted New Jersey’s 50-year moratorium on new nuclear development.
New Jersey has released a plethora of statewide climate plans, both comprehensive action plans and focused plans for specific sectors.
- The 2020 Energy Master Plan outlined strategies to reach New Jersey’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2050. The 2024 Energy Master Plan was released on November 24, 2025 outlining a roadmap for achieving the affordability, energy, environmental and economic goals of New Jersey by accelerating clean energy deployment, expanding electrification and efficiency, ensuring energy affordability, equity and environmental justice, a reliable and modern grid, staying the course of transportation electrification, enhancing regional coordination and advocacy, and driving innovation in workforce development.
- In 2020 the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) launched the New Jersey Protecting Against Climate Threats (NJPACT) initiative for climate regulatory reforms, and released the 2020 Scientific Report on Climate Change. The report was updated in December 2025 with the release of the 2025 New Jersey Scientific Report on Climate Change.
- In 2021 the Interagency Council on Climate Resilience released New Jersey’s first statewide resilience plan, the 2021 New Jersey Climate Change Resilience Strategy, with 127 recommended actions across six priority areas.
- In September 2023, the DEP released a draft of its Strategic Climate Action Plan which builds on the 2020 NJPACT initiative and identifies specific actions and milestones for the department to achieve in the short term (1-2 years), medium term (2-4 years) and long term (4+ years).
- The October 2023 Climate Change Resiliency Strategy Two-Year Accomplishment Report tracks progress in each priority area. Highlights include the Resilient NJ program, DCA’s Resilient Communities Program, NJ Transit’s first Sustainability Plan, first statewide Wetland Program Plan and an Extreme Heat Resilience Action Plan.
- In March 2024 New Jersey released its Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) under the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program. The PCAP includes a GHG inventory, GHG reduction strategies, and a low-income/disadvantaged-communities benefits analysis. Under phase 2 of the EPA’s program, New Jersey released the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) in December 2025. In addition to the statewide plan, metropolitan statistical areas in the region have released collaborative plans including the New York-Newark-Jersey City PCAP, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton PCAP, and the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PCAP.
- The Governor’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy released New Jersey’s Strategic Roadmap for Building Decarbonization in 2025, a plan to reduce emissions from the buildings sector which is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
- In January 2026, the DEP released New Jersey’s Global Warming Response Act 80x50 Progress Report summarizing the state’s progress in reducing emissions. According to the report, since 2006 transportation sector emissions have decreased 19%, electricity generation sector emissions have decreased 41%, industrial sector emissions have decreased 30%, and natural gas transmission emissions have decreased 13%, while building sector emissions have increased 7% and waste and agriculture emissions have increased 43%. The report identifies solar energy development and the transition to electric vehicles as the most critical factors for reducing emissions.
COLLABORATION WITH OTHER STATES
New Jersey is one of twenty four states committed to the U.S. Climate Alliance, which is working to implement policies that advance the goals of the Paris Agreement.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
In September 2020, Governor Murphy signed a landmark environmental justice law, making New Jersey the first state in the nation to require permit denials if a new polluting facility will have a disproportionately negative impact on overburdened communities. New Jersey's Environmental Justice Law requires the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to evaluate the environmental and public health impacts of polluting facilities, placing restrictions on building polluting facilities in overburdened communities and mandating public hearings. Regulations for implementing the Environmental Justice Law followed in 2023, crafted by a collaborative relationship with community organizations including the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, and were upheld by New Jersey’s Appellate Court in 2026 following legal challenges from industry. Dr. Leah Owens, Ports and Policy Analyst for South Ward Environmental Alliance, said of the ruling, “Environmental racism has shaped policy and permitting decisions in New Jersey for generations. Neighborhoods like the South Ward and Ironbound of Newark were expected to shoulder the health consequences of constant exposure to toxic emissions. Today’s ruling protects the integrity of a law our communities fought for, and it ensures that residents who have borne the brunt of environmental harm for far too long will finally have the safeguards and accountability they deserve.”
NJDEP released an Environmental Justice Action Plan in 2025, addressing how overburdened communities statewide experience disproportionate environmental and public health risks, and outlining how the department can integrate environmental justice into every aspect of its work. To learn more, watch The Sacrifice Zone (dir. Julie Winokur), a documentary about the fight for environmental justice in“The Chemical Corridor” and the Ironbound neighborhood of New Jersey.
