California at COP21

The climate talks may be occurring in Paris, but it could just as easily be here. California is leading a strong delegation to COP21, including elected officials, organizations, academics, and corporations.

California is a leader in the fight to reduce emissions through renewable energy and cleaner vehicles. Last week, NPR reported that, “A decade ago, the state took on a landmark climate change goal, to cut emissions 30 percent by 2020. It’s the most ambitious policy in the country and it’s remaking California’s economy.” And Governor Jerry Brown promotes the cause at the talks as well as here at home. Brown is defending Obama’s clean power plan from opposition by congressional Republicans and other state representatives, with the desire to make “climate change his legacy issue” according to the Los Angeles Times.

To that end, Brown has been busy heading his own climate agreement between states, regions and cities all over the world called Under 2 MOU. On Monday, Ken Alex, director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, participated in a webinar entitled, “California @ Paris Climate Talks,” hosted by the Climate Readiness Institute, to talk about the goals and gains of Under 2 MOU and how he and Brown will work to get more jurisdictions to sign the agreement at COP21. According to the organization’s website, “Central to the agreement is that all signatories agree to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions 80 to 95%, or limit to two metric tons CO2-equivalent per capita, by 2050.” Just prior to the opening of the talks yesterday, 57 governments had joined—states, provinces, nations, and cities, including Oakland and Richmond, who have representatives at the talks—representing 572 million people. It’s not a one-size fits all policy: the organization lets the regions decide how to reach that target, realizing that each jurisdiction has its own priorities and needs.

Governor Brown is not the only one taking matters into his own hands. Sunday night, California tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg announced on Facebook (where else?) a partnership between many high tech companies (from California and around the world) plus the investment office of the University of California, in a commitment to clean energy innovation. The purpose of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition “is to invest in the generation and storage of electricity, and the creation of an overall improvement in our energy system efficiency. The goal is a ‘future that produces near zero carbon emissions and provides everyone with affordable, reliable energy,’” according to Forbes.

So if the world’s nations fail to come to an agreement at COP21, states, corporations, and individuals will still make a difference in the battle against climate change. Shawn Marshall of the Marin-based organization LEAN Energy US quoted Gandhi in Monday’s “California @ Paris Climate Talks” webinar: “When the people lead, the leaders will follow.”

Image: Michael Schweppe/Flickr