Climate Targets

| Press Release

New analysis: California’s working lands could absorb up from atmosphere equivalent of one-quarter of the state’s annual carbon emissions

Cattle Grazing Pasture

Santa Rosa, California, January 25, 2022 — A new report from California-based policy nonprofit The Climate Center finds that California’s working lands can sequester up to 100 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year. That’s far more than previously estimated and enough to absorb almost one-quarter of the state’s annual greenhouse … Read more

Categories Carbon Sequestration Climate Targets
| Report

Setting an Ambitious Sequestration Goal for California’s Working Lands

Analysis and Recommendations for Net-Negative Emissions by 2030

Sheep grazing agriculture working lands sequestration

Every scenario in which we limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as outlined in the Paris agreement, involves dramatically cutting emissions and removing carbon from the atmosphere. Rather than rely on unproven technologies like carbon capture and storage (CCS) that prolong fossil fuel reliance and pollution, California can look to its millions of acres of cropland, … Read more

Categories Carbon Sequestration Climate Targets Public Health
| Press Release

New analysis: Bay Area’s greenhouse gas emissions not shrinking fast enough

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

SANTA ROSA, California, November 8, 2021 — As world leaders gather in Glasgow for COP26, a new report by The Climate Center finds that the Bay Area’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are not decreasing fast enough. Emissions dropped 3.6 percent between 2014 and 2019 across the Bay Area, well short of the pace Bay Area counties would … Read more

Categories Climate Targets Fossil Fuels Transportation
| Report

San Francisco Bay Area Greenhouse Gas Emission Trends for 2014 – 2019

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

The San Francisco Bay area is home to almost 8 million Californians. The region consists of rural, urban, industrial, and suburban areas that represent a wide cross-section of California. The Climate Center conducted a report to determine greenhouse gas trends in the region in order to help policymakers determine challenges and opportunities for reducing emissions … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Climate Targets Fossil Fuels Transportation
| Post

Our open-source Pathways Model offers climate action blueprint

The Climate Center’s Climate-Safe California (CSC) campaign advocates for a set of climate targets that, if implemented, would be the most ambitious targets set by any government in the world. At first hearing, that might sound radical. But listening to the mandates of the latest climate science is anything but radical. As we work towards … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Climate Targets
| Post

Climate-Safe California Campaign Reaches 1,000 Endorsements

Major milestone in effort to accelerate state climate leadership Santa Rosa, CA, March 24, 2021—Over 1,000 elected officials, business leaders, academics, organizations and community members have now endorsed The Climate Center’s Climate-Safe California campaign. By endorsing, they are sending a message that they want California to aggressively tackle the climate crisis with big investments now– … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Climate Targets
| Post

Emissions Gap Report 2020: Where we are & where we should be to avoid catastrophe

from The United Nations Environment Programme Highlights The United Nations Environment Programme has released their Emissions Gap Report for 2020, highlighting where greenhouse gas predictions for 2030 are and how the world can avoid climate disaster Currently, the world is headed for temperature rise in excess of 3°C this century and 2020 has likely to … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Climate Targets Public Health
| Post

New Executive Order from Governor Newsom on biodiversity, climate and working lands: A step in the right direction

On Wednesday Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new Executive Order N-82-20 that is another step forward in combating climate change. The order establishes the goal of protecting 30% of California’s lands and waters by 2030 while also outlining some initial actions required to get there. The governor’s bold leadership is urgently needed as climate change worsens … Read more

Categories Carbon Sequestration Climate Targets
| Post

The worst-case scenario for global warming tracks closely with actual emissions

coral bleaching

by Bob Berwyn, Inside Climate News Highlights The worst-case climate scenarios that feature the highest greenhouse gas emissions projections are the best ones to strategically plan for as they capture both future and historical emissions Though the use of coal is dwindling, cumulative concentrations of greenhouse gases that were emitted in the past play a … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Climate Targets