Brown pushes for continued progress after Paris climate talks

California Gov. Edmund G. Brown recently urged leaders in conservation, industry and sub-national governments to continue the momentum created by the December agreement made at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Brown, whose home state has set an example with several ambitious programs to reduce the climate change, attended five days of the conference and met with governmental leaders from China, France and the United States, as well as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

"This is a historic turning point in the quest to combat one of the biggest threats facing humanity," Brown said. "Activists, businesses and sub-national leaders now need to redouble their efforts and push for increasingly aggressive action."

In addition to California's efforts to reduce climate change, Brown has spearheaded the Under 2 MOU, an agreement open to all levels of government willing to commit to working toward keeping climate change below 2 degrees Celsius. While attending the Paris conference, Brown attained commitments from 58 new entities, which have agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent to 95 percent from 1990 levels by 2050 or to limit emissions to 2 metric tons.