Despite the
decision of US President Donald Trump to pull out of the Paris climate accord,
California is extending its joint efforts with the European Union to implement
carbon markets and zero-carbon transportation policies.
European
Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete and Governor of
California Jerry Brown met on November 7 in Brussels and agreed to step up
cooperation on emissions trading and zero-carbon transportation.
“The EU and California are natural partners in
the fight against climate change and have been pioneers in the early years of
carbon markets and clean mobility,” Cañete said following his meeting with
Brown on November 7.” Today we agreed to strengthen our cooperation so that we
remain leaders in these areas – both of which will be key for achieving the
goals of the Paris Agreement,” the Commissioner added.
For his
part Governor Brown reminded that the world is truly facing a challenge
unprecedented in human history. “If we come together and we see the truth of
our situation, we can overcome it. We’ve fought great battles before and I hope
that the European Union and California will be able to inspire the rest of the
world,” Brown added.
On carbon
markets, the EU and California will hold regular political and technical
dialogues on the design and implementation of their carbon markets, including
cooperation with other carbon markets such as China. Hosted by China’s Special
Representative on Climate Change Affairs, Cañete and Brown will open a
high-level event on carbon markets and the role of carbon pricing in China on
November 14 at COP 23 in Bonn, the Commission said.
The EU and
California will also work together to scale zero-carbon transportation solutions
globally, including by bringing new commitments and new partners to the Global
Climate Action Summit which California will host on September 12-14, 2018.
The Global
Climate Action Summit will bring together leaders from all around the world and
in every walk of life – from government to business, from science to faith, and
from students to investors to non-profit leaders – who believe that climate
change is an existential threat and are committed to rolling back the forces of
carbonisation. The Summit will emphasise how subnational actors have already
contributed to emissions reductions, spur bold new commitments, and galvanise a
global movement for everyone to do more.
The EU is
the largest carbon market in the world, with its emissions trading system a key
part of the EU’s policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while California
also has a well-established carbon market, that is linked with markets in
Quebec and Ontario.
The EU’s
low-emission mobility strategy for the transport sector is also a key element
of the bloc’s climate policy, with a major new proposal on CO2 emission
standards for cars and vans to be considered by the Commission on November 8.
California introduced its first regulation to accelerate the uptake of
zero-emissions vehicles in 1990 and nine other US States have adopted
California’s current standards. The state also has a goal to put more than 1.5
million zero-emission vehicles on its roads by 2025.
California
climate policies and programmes have cut carbon emissions, helped create clean
technology jobs and spurred partnerships across the United States and around
the world to fight climate change.
The state
has created more than 2.6 million new jobs since 2010, and the unemployment
rate has declined by more than half. Climate leadership in both the public and
private sectors has played a key role in the state’s economic growth, with the
state now home to more than 500,000 advanced-energy jobs. In 2015, at the end
of a ten-year period in which state per capita carbon emissions fell by 12%,
the sector created jobs at six times the rate of the overall state economy,
showing that economic growth and climate ambition go hand-in-hand.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/snubbing-trump-california-joins-eu-joint-climate-push/