Climate Actions for California

Recommendations for Governor Jerry Brown’s Final Term

 

December 2015

California has made landmark progress reducing carbon emissions Climate Actions_Coverwhile growing the economy, but the state’s work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is just beginning.  To reduce long-term emissions 80 percent over 1990 levels by 2050, the state will need both to build on existing programs and to address new areas that are key to decarbonizing the state’s economy, such as natural resources, water and land use.

With just over three years remaining in Governor Brown’s final term, the new report Climate Actions For California: Recommendations for Governor Jerry Brown’s Final Term details immediate steps that administration leaders, environmental and energy advocates, and other stakeholders can take to achieve additional short-term successes and create a foundation for long-term progress that endures beyond the administration.

 

Recommendations

Among the key recommended solutions:

  • A state data platform to better share existing data and collect new data on pressing environmental challenges, particularly on water management and renewable energy planning;
  • Improved inter-agency coordination on climate actions, particularly on demonstration projects to reduce emissions that can quickly scale statewide and for collaborating on efforts with new sources of funding;
  • More collaborative regional conservation planning to facilitate advanced mitigation for new projects and smart development going forward, among other benefits; and
  • Enhanced transportation and land use planning that achieves greater co-benefits on water management and resource conservation.

The report findings are based on interviews and a convening with Brown Administration officials, agency leaders, philanthropic representatives, and environmental experts.  For more information on steps that California decision-makers can take to implement the state’s climate laws, please see CLEE and UCLA Law School’s Climate Change and Business Research Initiative.


Download the Report:

Climate Actions for California: Recommendations for Governor Jerry Brown’s Final Term (Dec 2015)


For More Information:

Contact Ethan Elkind, Director, Climate Program, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at UC Berkeley Law