“The work ahead is long and arduous and I welcome France to our growing coalition to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control,” said Governor Brown.
In 2015, California and Baden-Württemberg, Germany formed the Under 2 Coalition to provide a path for continued action toward an international agreement to reduce emissions ahead of the COP21. Today, a total of 136 jurisdictions representing 32 countries and six continents have signed or endorsed the Under 2 MOU. Together, the Under 2 Coalition represents more than 832 million people and $22 trillion in GDP, which is nearly a third of the global economy.
“The Under 2 MOU is world-wide the largest alliance for climate protection on a subnational level, and France is an important partner for us,” said Baden-Württemberg Environment Minister Franz Untersteller. “We must work together on all levels to achieve the climate targets that are so important for the future of the Earth’s climate. To have France as a partner with us will boost our regional climate protection efforts.”
California’s Leadership on Climate Change
Last month, California continued to advance its climate goals as Governor Brown signed legislation that establishes the most ambitious greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in North America and the nation’s toughest restrictions on destructive super pollutants. The Governor also signed legislation that directs cap-and-trade funds to greenhouse gas reducing programs which benefit disadvantaged communities, support clean transportation and protect natural ecosystems.
This action builds on landmark legislation the Governor signed in October 2015 to generate half of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and double the rate of energy efficiency savings in California buildings. Governor Brown has also committed to reducing today’s petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent within the next 15 years; make heating fuels cleaner; and manage farm and rangelands, forests and wetlands so they can store carbon.
The state is also playing a leading role in broadening collaboration among subnational leaders to reduce climate pollutants across the world.
Over the past year and a half, the Governor has traveled to the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, the Vatican in Italy and the Climate Summit of the Americas in Toronto, Canada to call on other leaders to join California in the fight against climate change. Governor Brown also joined an unprecedented alliance of heads of state, city and state leaders – convened by the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund – to urge countries and companies around the globe to put a price on carbon.
These efforts build on a number of other international climate change agreements with leaders from the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Mexico, China, North America, Japan, Israel, Peru and Chile and Governor Brown’s efforts to gather hundreds of world-renowned researchers and scientists around a groundbreaking call to action – called the consensus statement – which translates key scientific climate findings from disparate fields into one unified document.
More information about the Under 2 Coalition can be found at www.under2MOU.org.