Annual Report 2024
Building on our progress toward a climate-safe California
The climate imperative: As goes California, so goes the world
Letter from CEO Ellie Cohen and Board Chair Lokelani Devone
California has a reputation for precedent-setting climate policy, and the last year has shown us why.
Thanks to the support of our generous donors, The Climate Center has been at the center of passing nation-leading, new laws. This year, together with policymakers, scientists, business leaders, local governments, activists, and others across the climate movement, we:
- Enacted a pioneering bidirectional electric vehicle bill, SB 59 (Skinner). SB 59 advances the use of EV batteries to prevent power outages, which will reduce reliance on polluting fossil fuels and save Californians’ money on their electricity bills.
- Catalyzed California’s new, first-of-their-kind targets for natural carbon drawdown and other nature-based climate solutions.
- Restored hundreds of millions of dollars in state investments for climate solutions that reduce pollution, enhance food and water security, and protect frontline communities.
- Passed a $10 billion climate bond out of the legislature. If approved by voters in the November 2024 election, Prop 4 will support wildfire protection, clean water, and climate-friendly agriculture.
- Played a key role in the movement to enact “polluter pays” laws that hold Big Oil accountable, reduce pollution in frontline communities, and ensure local governments can ban neighborhood oil drilling.
Our progress is even more remarkable considering the state faces a historic budget deficit and the powerful oil and gas lobby continues to spend record amounts to delay climate action.
But compared to what the latest science demands, California is not doing enough to reverse the climate crisis.
There is still a small window of opportunity to prevent dangerous climate tipping points, but we must act fast. California is home to some of the world’s most prominent climate visionaries, but we need more than just vision right now. We need urgency.
In California this year alone, dozens died from extreme heat waves. Wildfires continue to ravage our state, fueled by the whiplash between wet winters and hot, dry summers. And Californians continue to breathe some of the dirtiest air in the nation thanks to fossil fuel pollution. Simply put, business as usual is deadly.
California sets the standard for climate action. When we enact bolder, more ambitious policy, the world follows. Our actions — and inaction — resonate far beyond our borders, and we must not settle for incremental progress. With oil interests and corporate utilities fighting desperately to protect their profits and the future of federal climate action uncertain, California’s role is more important than ever.
That means our work at The Climate Center is more important than ever, too. We are a think-tank and do-tank working to make bold climate solutions a reality in California. Our research, webinars, and media outreach form the foundation for game-changing policies. We are laser-focused on ensuring that California meets the climate imperative head on, acting at the speed and scale that science demands to restore the stable climate system that has supported life on Earth for thousands of years.
California can and must lead the world in phasing out fossil fuels, growing the clean energy economy, and investing in natural climate solutions — not ten years from now, but today.
The good news is that, thanks to you, the movement for accelerated climate action is growing.
To all of you who gave us your time, money, and activism this year, thank you! Your dedication is an inspiration. Together, we will continue our collaborative work to secure a climate-safe future for all.
WIth gratitude always,
Ellie Cohen, CEO, The Climate Center
Lokelani Devone, Chair of the Board, The Climate Center
Much of my career has been dedicated to advancing real solutions to our climate crisis, including authoring laws to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles and mandate large-scale, green energy storage. I can think of few better partners in the battle against global warming than The Climate Center. This year, we teamed up to pass a game-changing law, SB 59, that will speed up the transition for electric vehicles to have bidirectional capability, enabling EVs to provide clean energy to homes, slash our utility bills, and stabilize the grid. Thanks to the vital work of The Climate Center, California is poised to unleash the potential of EVs to be mini power plants on wheels.”
State Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley)
Our Impact
- Advocacy for accelerated, equitable climate policies
- Policy research and outreach
- Mobilizing for policy change
To face the challenges that confront us, the labor and climate movements must find common ground. That’s why I’m proud to collaborate with The Climate Center. As California transitions towards a green economy, we’re bringing union members and climate activists together to make sure everyone thrives moving forward.”
Norman Rogers, Second Vice President of the United Steelworkers, Local 675
Advocacy for accelerated, equitable climate policies
Enacting pioneering bidirectional charging policy: We led the charge for clean, reliable, distributed energy in the California legislature, mobilizing nearly 200 businesses and organizations to pass SB 59 (Skinner). This bill — the first of its kind in the nation — authorizes the California Energy Commission to require electric vehicles to have bidirectional charging capability. In the past two years, we’ve secured dozens of news stories highlighting the benefits of this vision, including an editorial in the Los Angeles Times and an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle. Putting more bidirectional EVs on the road will help California keep the lights on, clean the air, and lower prices for ratepayers. Governor Newsom signed SB 59 into law on September 27, 2024.
Leading the nation in natural climate solutions: In April 2024, California unveiled first-of-their-kind, new targets for nature-based climate solutions. The targets were established per AB 1757 (C. Garcia), signed into law in 2022 thanks to The Climate Center’s collaborative leadership. Over the next 20 years, the state will work to realize these 81 new targets to transform more than half of its 104 million acres into healthier, climate-resilient, and carbon-sequestering landscapes, spanning farms, ranches, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and urban areas.
Passing a $10 billion climate bond: Together with a large coalition of leading climate, environmental, and health organizations, we passed a $10 billion climate bond out of the legislature and got it placed on the November ballot as Prop 4. We are thrilled that California voters approved Prop 4, the Climate Bond, to invest $10 billion in clean air and water, solutions to extreme heat, wildfire readiness, climate-friendly agriculture, and more. We worked with the authors of Prop 4 to ensure robust investment in natural climate solutions, provided lead testimony in the legislature, and placed an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee to educate voters.
Defending California’s climate progress: This year, California faced a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit. In January, Governor Newsom proposed $4.7 billion in cuts and delays to life-saving climate and clean energy investments. We worked with lawmakers, the governor’s office, and coalition partners to defend investments in equitable climate solutions. Our advocacy helped restore funding for biking and walking infrastructure, electric vehicle incentives for disadvantaged communities, offshore wind power development, programs to make building electrification accessible to working-class Californians, climate-beneficial agriculture, and more.
Ending state fossil fuel subsidies and divesting from Big Oil: We’re leading the movement to end state subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas corporations. This year, we educated lawmakers and the public about the billions of dollars California could potentially save by ending oil and gas subsidies, including publishing an op-ed in Capitol Weekly. Our work to make Big Oil pay its fair share in taxes will continue in 2025 and beyond. We’re now working with state agencies to secure a detailed analysis of what these subsidies cost the state.
We also co-sponsored SB 252 (Gonzalez). SB 252 would have divested billions in retirement funds from CalPERS and CalSTRS — two of the largest public pension funds in the nation — from fossil fuels. Though oil industry lobbying prevented the bill from moving forward in 2024, we continue to work with partners to divest from Big Oil and invest in clean air, clean water, and a climate-safe California.
Making climate solutions a reality: We activated thousands of Californians and advocated in the legislature to enact new laws that will make polluters pay, grow the clean energy economy, and more. These include:
- AB 1866 (Hart), which accelerates the cleanup of more than 40,000 toxic, idle oil wells across California.
- AB 3233 (Addis), which affirms the rights of local governments to regulate oil and gas drilling within their jurisdictions.
- AB 1359 (Papan), which supports exploratory, low-carbon geothermal projects that can provide 24/7 power to complement solar and wind energy.
- SB 1101 (Limón), which will mitigate wildfire damage by streamlining the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s contracting and procurement process for beneficial fire, including prescribed burning, cultural fire practices, and natural fire management.
Policy research and outreach
Our research, reports, and webinars provide guidance on how to make bold climate solutions a reality in California. These resources help to direct state policies and investments toward the most equitable, effective climate solutions. This year, we produced a brief for policymakers on Reforming California’s Cap and Trade Program, which provides analysis and recommendations for improving the program to help meet the state’s climate goals. Some of our new policy briefs in development focus on the Grid for the Future, engaging community stakeholders in Carbon Dioxide Removal, and performance-based regulation for corporate utilities.
We convene experts and decision-makers for regular webinars on the most pressing climate challenges of our time. This year, our webinars reached more than 20,000 activists, business leaders, and government officials and engaged them to take action for a climate-safe future.
As an official observer organization to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) we secured entrance badges for California legislators and other state decision-makers to attend COP26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom, COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This allows state leaders to share California’s climate progress on a global stage while also learning from their counterparts around the world, catalyzing bolder action at home. Our delegation traveled to Baku, Azerbaijan for COP29 in November 2024.
The climate crisis is a public health crisis and a threat multiplier of existing health inequities, especially in marginalized communities. I joined the board of The Climate Center because we’re working to ensure equitable access to climate solutions that save lives. Connecting health professionals, scientists, policymakers, and communities builds power. That’s a huge part of what makes The Climate Center successful.”
Dr. Venise Curry, Vice Chair, Board of Directors, The Climate Center
Mobilizing for policy change
California Climate Policy Summit and Lobby Day: In March 2024, we hosted the third annual California Climate Policy Summit in Sacramento. The event sold out, bringing together more than 350 climate, environmental justice, business, and labor leaders. Featured guests included Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph, and several state lawmakers. We also presented the inaugural Climate Leadership Award to Senator Nancy Skinner in recognition of her decades-long pursuit of a climate-safe future.
Regional convenings: The Climate Center hosted several regional events, building community power for bolder state climate policy. These included a November 2023 gathering in Los Angeles, co-hosted by the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, bringing together state lawmakers, business leaders, and activists to debrief legislative accomplishments in 2023. And in September 2024, we hosted a forum for 24 environmental and environmental justice organizations to align on how to achieve an equitable, managed decline and transition away from fossil fuels in California.
Growing the California climate movement: The Climate Center now has 42,000 climate activists in our network, a sixfold increase since the launch of our Climate-Safe California campaign. We work with hundreds of partners across the state, including regional and local climate organizations, labor, local government, and more than 50 businesses through our Business Network.
Partnerships are critical to our success. We’re actively engaged in multiple statewide and regional coalitions, including the Building Decarbonization Coalition, the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, Charge Ahead Coalition, Coalition for a California Green New Deal, Green California, Healthy Soils Network, Last Chance Alliance, Let’s Green CA, the Refinery Transitions Working Group, VISIÓN Allies, and more.
We also lead coalitions, including:
- Budget Defense Coalition: Aimed at protecting investments in climate solutions during a time of budget austerity — especially those that benefit communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis — this coalition includes The Climate Center, the American Lung Association in California, California Environmental Voters, Climate Action California, Climate Health Now, the Coalition for Clean Air, Consumer Watchdog, Environment California, Food and Water Watch, The Greenlining Institute, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, NextGen California, and the Sunflower Alliance.
- Microgrid Equity Coalition: The Microgrid Equity Coalition includes Reclaim Our Power, California Environmental Justice Alliance, California Alliance for Community Energy, Vote Solar, the Sierra Club, and Grid Alternatives. Together, we advocate for environmental justice in proceedings before the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission. In April 2023, The Climate Center brought on a Community Energy Resilience Project Manager to help our local partners access federal and state funding for clean, resilient, distributed energy projects.
- Natural and Working Lands Coalition: The Climate Center co-convenes 26 organizations from across California to advance natural carbon sequestration and other natural climate solutions. These include the California Climate and Agriculture Network, Carbon Cycle Institute, Pacific Forest Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Nature Conservancy, TreePeople, and more.
Climate-Safe California endorsements: As of September 2024, we’ve secured 2,514 endorsements of our Climate-Safe California platform, including 97 elected officials, 166 non-governmental organizations, 131 businesses, 12 local governments, and more than 2,000 individuals throughout California.
Of all the ongoing things to worry about, climate is by far at the top of our list. As members of 1% for the Planet, our business is committed to the idea that we have to be responsible for the resources that we use and measure our success beyond short-term economic progress. We give to The Climate Center every quarter because the health of our planet comes down to whether or not there is a future. The Climate Center understands this and their strong work and team have and continue to create and change California policies for a more sustainable future for all of us in California, the nation, and the world.”
Kenny Likitprakong and Lynn Wheeler, Owners, Hobo Wine Company
Who we are
Our Mission
The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.
Our vision and three-year strategic priorities
We believe in vibrant, healthy communities. We envision a future where everyone in California enjoys clean air and water, renewable and reliable energy, healthy food, thriving nature, and more. California already has the tools and know-how to make this vision a reality — if our elected leaders act with the urgency the climate crisis demands. As goes California, so goes the world.
In 2024, The Climate Center advanced our three-year strategic plan for accelerated, equitable climate action. We will continue to work collaboratively to enact the suite of policies necessary for California to lead the world toward a climate-safe future for all. Our focus is on four areas:
- CUT: Rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions. We aim to significantly reduce climate pollution as soon as possible. We work to:
- Develop a statewide implementation plan for the managed transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
- End state subsidies to oil and gas interests.
- Make polluters pay for the costs of climate damages.
- Provide science-based alternatives to Big Oil’s false solutions.
- DEPLOY: Build a Grid for the Future that is clean, reliable, affordable, decentralized, and safe. We work to:
- Support local, clean energy — including rooftop solar, battery storage, and microgrids — for their resilience, reliability, and job creation benefits.
- Enact policies that promote energy storage using electric vehicle batteries to power homes, businesses, and the grid as California faces more power outages from climate extremes.
- Reform the compensation structure for corporate utilities to better align with what is necessary to achieve state climate goals.
- DRAW DOWN: Remove past climate pollution from the atmosphere. We work to scale up natural carbon sequestration and ensure the deployment of technological sequestration engages impacted communities and protects the environment. We will:
- Deliver on California’s new, science-based targets for drawing down existing climate pollution through nature-based strategies.
- Enact policies that grow the workforce and infrastructure needed to deliver on these targets.
- Secure the resources needed to implement climate-beneficial practices on natural and working lands at scale, while building resilience to climate extremes.
- Expand education and outreach about Carbon Dioxide Removal to ensure this nascent industry engages communities, protects the environment, and does not increase emissions.
- FUND: Support policies that finance the transition to an equitable, clean energy economy. We work to bolster climate-beneficial agriculture, protect ecosystems, and make polluters pay their fair share.
Climate-Safe California
Climate-Safe California is built on four pillars:
- Phase out fossil fuels from vehicles, electricity, our homes, and more;
- Invest in resilient communities and clean energy systems;
- Scale up carbon sequestration in soils and biomass; and
- Unlock public and private funding for climate action.
These initiatives fit together like pieces of a puzzle: we need to pursue all of them in tandem to deliver on the promise of a climate-safe future. If we can do this in California — the fifth-largest economy in the world — we can do it anywhere. As goes California, so goes the world.
Our approach
The Climate Center makes change through an ambitious and achievable vision, developing science-based research to drive policy, and mobilizing a powerful coalition of climate advocates and partners across sectors.
Together with local governments, labor unions, business leaders, environmental organizations, climate justice advocates, and more, we’re pushing lawmakers in Sacramento to enact accelerated, equitable climate policies.
These bold policies then unleash innovation across the economy and channel market forces, making climate-friendly choices accessible to everyone.
Our Guiding Principles
All of The Climate Center’s work is guided by three core principles: follow the science, prioritize climate justice for frontline communities, and secure a just transition for workers.
Secure a just transition for workers. As we transition away from oil and gas and toward renewable energy, policymakers must ensure fossil fuel workers and their families aren’t left behind. That means creating millions of family-sustaining jobs in clean energy, providing workforce training and job placement for workers in transition, and protecting workers’ pensions and healthcare benefits.
Follow the latest science. We know that the bar for climate action is set by what science demands and the climate impacts people are already experiencing, not what pundits deem possible. We’re working to bring California’s climate ambition in line with what the latest science says is necessary.
Prioritize climate justice. Marginalized communities — Black, Brown, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian people as well as working-class communities across race — are bearing the brunt of California’s climate crisis. The fossil fuel economy prioritizes short-term profit over people’s health. Working together, we can ensure that all Californians enjoy equitable access to climate solutions and the benefits of clean energy.
Financials
Securing a strong and thriving organization: We’ve grown considerably over the past 5 years, from a budget of $1.3 million to over $3.1 million this year.
Guided by our FY 2024-2026 Strategic Plan, we have raised two years of funding for two new strategic staff positions that will expand our capacity and leverage more funds to continue our impact on climate policy in California. Over the next two fiscal years, we need to raise approximately $10 million to reach our strategic goals working in coalition with our partners.
We could not do any of this without our generous donors — thanks again! We are always eager to hear from you with questions and feedback. Please reach out to us at info@theclimatecenter.org.
Funding Sources 2024
| Individuals | $1,961,440 | 63% |
| Business contributions | $253,807 | 8% |
| Foundation grants | $853,057 | 27% |
| Conference admissions | $48,369 | 2% |
| Interest and investment activity, net | $13,645 | 0.4% |
| TOTAL | $3,130,318 | 100% |
Expenses 2024
| Program | $2,405,616 | 76% |
| Management and general | $353,404 | 11% |
| Fundraising | $398,802 | 13% |
| TOTAL | $3,157,822 | 100% |
For audited financial statements and 990s, click here.