Earth Innovation Institute

The Paris Agreement brought to fruition twenty-three years of dialogues and negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. And while this agreement across more than 190 nations is the cornerstone of a global solution to climate change, it is built upon years of public policy innovation, partnership building, and political support for climate change solutions driven by states and provinces.

California’s environmental policy innovations have, for decades, been replicated by national governments and watched closely by industry through what has been dubbed the “California effect”. Less visible is California’s international partnership effect, which is particularly strong with tropical forest states and provinces. The importance of these partnerships was captured eloquently by Tião Viana, the Governor of Acre State, who last October told California’s Governor Brown that Acre’s economy is seven hundred times smaller than the California economy, but that its contribution to climate change solutions is about the same.

Could this be true? Yes. Acre is a state in the southwestern corner of the Brazilian Amazon region that is small by Amazon standards–about the size of New York State or England. Gov. Viana was referring to Acre’s success in slowing down the clearing of its forests, which should avoid 300 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. California, by comparison, will avoid 360 million tons of emissions by 2020.

Acre’s contribution is small compared to that of Brazil’s agricultural giant, the state of Mato Grosso. Governor Pedro Taques launched the “Produce, Conserve, Include” plan in Paris as the UN agreement was being finalized. The PCI plan would keep 4 billion tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere by 2030 through steep reductions in deforestation and a massive reforestation effort. The US Clean Power Plan—which the Trump Administration is dismantling—would avoid 2.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2030 if implemented.

Acre, Mato Grosso and California are reducing carbon pollution while growing their economies, solving social problems, and putting into practice the principle of environmental justice—making sure that the burden of environmental degradation does not fall disproportionately on the backs of the poor. All three are inspiring other states and their national governments to follow their example. And all three are fighting the regressive efforts of their national leaders—Temer and Trump—to roll back important environmental legislation.

And they are just the tip of the iceberg.