As Gov. Gavin Newsom prepares to take California’s climate story to the world stage at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, state environmental leaders hope his global message of resilience and action will echo just as ambitiously back home.

The governor’s trip comes as California faces increasing climate pressures, from worsening droughts and extreme heat to the rising costs of energy and water — and for many following those challenges, the trip is both a chance to reaffirm their hopes for state-level progress and a mirror for the criticisms that continue to shadow Newsom’s climate record.

Newsom has consistently aligned himself with the view that California’s government is at the forefront of addressing climate change, especially in the absence of active leadership from the U.S. federal government in climate discussions.

In a press release Thursday, the state celebrated a major 3% drop in greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 ahead of COP30, driven largely by the growth of clean transportation. The report noted that California’s economy has grown at the same time by more than 80% since 2000 even as emissions have fallen by over 20%, adding Newsom’s statement that in California, “we know that a healthy, clean climate and thriving economy aren’t zero-sum games. We can excel at both.”

But even as the governor touts the state’s climate achievements, his broader agenda faces friction on two fronts — from federal rollbacks that legally challenge California’s own state-level green authority, and from questions over his own commitment to phasing out fossil fuels.

Gavin Newsom’s green agenda faces tests at home

Sierra Club California director Miguel Miguel said that while the Governor’s “boldness” to lead at COP30 is “necessary,” his recent backing for an oil and gas measure has undermined years of progress toward clean energy and echoed the same “drill, baby, drill” approach long promoted by the Trump administration.

“The federal administration loves to say ‘drill, baby, drill.’ Governor Newsom said the same thing with SB 237,” Miguel said, citing legislation the governor signed earlier this year that eased restrictions on oil and gas operations in California.

When Newsom signed the bill in September, environmental groups called Newsom’s approval “a deep betrayal of Californians’ trust and values,” condemned what they described as “backroom deals” crafted without public input, “a disappointing large shift” from the state’s recent climate progress.

“It’s really hard for this year to say we did a good job on it — rather, we were responding a lot to what the federal administration was doing, as many other states and cities were doing too,” Miguel said, adding some of those state responses which rolled back clean energy approach are going to have “big consequences.”

Newsom is expected to be in Brazil from Nov. 9 to 15, according to his office. He will begin the trip in São Paulo, where he is scheduled to speak with business leaders and investors at a Milken Institute event before traveling to Belém for COP30, according to a press release. At COP30, he is expected to deliver remarks, meet with climate leaders including Christiana Figueres, the “architect of the Paris Agreement” and discuss clean energy and conservation partnerships.

Calls for investment in climate resilience

Fresh off his redistricting victory earlier this week, Newsom said he would refocus his attention on shoring up the state’s climate bonafides, a sharp contrast from the White House, which declined this week to send a delegation to Brazil.

“As the President of the United States turns his back on people and the planet, California is inking global partnerships focused on creating jobs and cutting toxic pollution,” Newsom said Thursday in a press release. “The economic winners of the 21st century are those who build the clean energy future. We’re doing that right now — and showing the world that climate action means jobs, clean air, and lower costs.”

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Newsom, who earlier this year was named co-chair of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group of governors mitigating climate change, sent some of his top advisers to Brazil ahead of his arrival, like National Resources Agency head Wade Crowfoot, who during an online presentation Wednesday criticized the federal government’s decision not to attend the conference and stressed the importance of showing the world that “America is still in this fight and we’re moving forward.”

The delegation also includes newly appointed Air Resources Board chair Lauren Sanchez, Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari, Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross and Public Utilities Commission President Alice Reynolds.

“We’re glad…that Governor Newsom is showing his commitment to California’s leadership on climate solutions by going to Brazil, because there are so many common sense solutions that overwhelming majorities of our state are enthusiastic about,” said Sam Trezona, wildlife conservation associate at Environment California.

Humans co-existing with wildlife

While praising California for leading the way in constructing wildlife crossings such as the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, Trezona emphasized that stronger investments are still needed to help humans coexist with shrinking wildlife populations and their habitats.

Roadkill is, as UC Davis researchers have described it, “a preventable natural disaster” that costs Californians more than $200 million each year and kills thousands of animals annually. And though Caltrans has identified over 100 sites where wildlife crossings could reduce the toll, most of them remain unfunded.

“We know that in part, because of climate change, more wildlife are at risk of going extinct now than ever, and solutions like wildlife crossings to reconnect wildlife can help address that…what we need is investment to create wildlife crossing networks across the state,” Trezona added.

Folsom Lake’s surface elevation was at 370.7 feet on Oct. 20, 2021, the lowest level since December 2015. California begins the new water year under continued threat from the “new normal” of swinging between major storms and long, dry periods, a pattern widely considered linked to climate change, the California Department of Water Resources warned.

Climate change and California’s water systems

Meanwhile, James Peifer, executive director of Regional Water Authority and Sacramento Groundwater Authority, said recent extreme weather patterns show how climate change is reshaping California’s water systems. Noting that the state has seen both record droughts and severe storms during Newsom’s tenure, he urged the state to use Climate Bond funds to move long-planned resilience projects off paper and into action.

The California Department of Water Resources warned in October that California begins the new water year under continued threat from the “new normal” of swinging between major storms and long, dry periods, a pattern widely considered linked to climate change.

“One of the biggest opportunities is to move projects from planned to built. That’s why we’re hopeful the Administration will move quickly to release Climate Bond funding approved by voters in 2024,” Peifer said, referring to the $10 billion Climate Resilience Bond California voters approved in 2024 to fund drought, flood, wildfire, and other climate resilience projects — much of which has yet to be allocated as the state works out its distribution plan.

“With that support, our region can tackle flood, fire, and drought challenges with projects that provide multiple benefits for communities and the environment,” Peifer continued.