California and Chinese Province Form Climate Change Partnership

Delegates from both California and a provincial government in China came together Aug. 3 to forge an international agreement outlining shared goals and principles related to reducing carbon emissions, with the document (pdf) signed at an official ceremony.

The agreement, knowns as a Memorandum of Understanding, defines five areas of cooperation between the Golden State and the Hainan Province—China’s southernmost province, and the smallest in terms of geographical size—including reducing air pollution, improving clean energy technologies, advancing zero-emission vehicle production, and accelerating development and implementation of climate change and carbon neutrality plans.

Mr. Newsom expressed gratitude for the partnership and celebrated the occasion, while reiterating that addressing climate change is a top priority of his administration.

“We’re an ocean apart but share the same goals – leaving this planet better off for our kids and grandkids,” he said in the press release announcing the agreement. “Working together with global partners like the province of Hainan, we stand a chance to address the existential crisis of climate change by cutting pollution and transitioning to clean energy.”

The delegation from China thanked the governor and declared the intention to focus on climate-related strategies.

“We’re glad to partner with California as we both take meaningful steps to fight the global climate crisis,” Hainan’s Vice Governor Chen Huaiyu said in the joint press release. “We share the desire to raise the bar for climate solutions like cleaning our air, advancing zero emission vehicles, and embracing clean energy.”

Hainan Province is home to 10 coal-fired power plants and a nuclear power plant that is currently undergoing phase two expansion, but no specific details were provided in the agreement as to the facilities.

Following the formal signing ceremony, the group met for a roundtable discussion where members committed to prioritizing “climate action, air quality, clean transportation, clean energy, ocean protection and nature-based climate solutions,” according to the press release.

There are more than 3,000 coal-fired power plants in China, 10 of which are in Hainan as of January 2023, according to online data analysis firm Statista.

As the world's largest source of carbon emissions, China’s emissions jumped by 4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with a year ago, reaching a record-high first-quarter level, according to a report published in May by a nonprofit think tank founded in Finland, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

The country’s emission level is expected to reach a historic high this year, surpassing the previous peak in 2021, according to the report.

Similar arrangements were made in April 2022 with Huang Runqiu, China’s Minister of Ecology and Environment, and with the Netherlands in September of the same year.

Memorandums of Cooperation—more comprehensive than those of understanding—were also signed in 2022 with Canada, New Zealand, and Japan.

Regional commitments exist between the Golden State and Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.