Governor Kate Brown is headed to Glasgow, Scotland, this weekend for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties to discuss the impacts of climate change on Oregonians, as well as to highlight the actions her state has taken to reduce carbon emissions and transition to clean energy.
She will be joined by other U.S. governors to highlight the state-level actions that can be taken around the world to address the climate crisis.
“I have been governor since 2015, and it was about that time that Oregon took a front-row seat to climate change,” Brown said in a statement. “Nearly every year, the extreme weather has been worse than the last. We are a warning for the rest of the world.”
Brown urged national leaders to continue to move urgently to tackle climate change — while growing the economy.
“These goals are not mutually exclusive,” she said. “Oregon is a shining example of how it can be done. What is clear is we cannot leave behind our historically underserved communities. In Oregon, we have worked to ensure that our communities hardest hit by climate change due to structural racism and systemic disparities are not left behind.
“Future generations will judge us not on the fact of climate change, but on what we have done to tackle it. The time is now, we can’t afford to wait.”
Highlights of the governor’s agenda in Glasgow include participating in a panel discussion on financing and investment for state and regional climate leadership with the U.S. Climate Alliance and Under2 General Assembly on Sunday.
She will join another panel on Monday discussing the effort to reduce food waste and ocean pollution on the West Coast and a third Tuesday gaming out possibilities for federal and state partnerships to meet future net zero goals.
Brown in July 2021 signed a sweeping set of clean energy initiatives, giving Oregon the most aggressive timeline in the country for transitioning to 100% clean electricity sources. The package requires retail utilities to offer electricity from 100% clean energy sources by 2040 and mandates that providers offer greater support for electric vehicles.