BRUSSELS, Belgium – In forceful remarks before the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament and nearly three hours of wide-ranging debate and dialogue with members of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today forged closer ties with European leaders committed to climate action and blasted the “denialists” who continue to reject the scientific consensus on global warming.
“We have to wake up – wake up Europe, wake up America, wake up the whole world to realize we have a common destiny and we are all human beings on this one planet,” said Governor Brown in his address to the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg, co-founder of the Under2 Coalition. “This is daunting but it’s also an opportunity to pull people together.”
From Stuttgart, Germany, the Governor traveled to Brussels, Belgium, where he joined dozens of members of the European Parliament’s top climate and environmental committee and the leaders of the Parliament’s political parties for more than three hours of debate and discussion on climate change, its impacts, and opportunities for further collaboration. During the final hour of the exchange, the Governor confronted several members that used their remarks to openly question the science of climate change.
“The truth is that any kind of catalogue of the scientific community indicates that climate change is real, it’s having impacts. Even the Trump administration couldn’t, with a straight face, curb a report that underscores the very opposite of what you denialists have expressed here,” said Governor Brown during the discussion with the European Parliament Conference of Presidents. “With the denialists getting more attention, the people, instead of growing in their skepticism, are growing in their conviction that climate change and global warming are real matters – and we have to deal with them.”
Tomorrow, the Governor will conclude his visit to Brussels with a moderated conversation hosted by the German Marshall Fund. Later this week, the Governor will travel to Oslo, Norway, where he will meet with the country’s Prime Minister and Environment Minister and convene scientists from the world’s top national science academies before arriving in Bonn, Germany, where he will serve as Special Advisor for States and Regions at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23).
Yesterday, Governor Brown met with Baden- Württemberg Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann in Stuttgart, Germany after delivering opening remarks at a high-level conference on clean energy organized by the European Parliament and European Commission and meeting with European Parliament President Antonio Tajani and the European Union’s top representatives at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23) – Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Caüete and European Commission Vice-President for Energy Union Marosh Shefčovič. Over the weekend, the Governor delivered keynote remarks at a symposium on climate change hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican, where he called on global faith leaders to help awaken the world to the threat of toxic carbon pollution.
Governor Brown was named Special Advisor for States and Regions in June by Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama – president of COP23. The Governor continues to build strong coalitions of partners committed to curbing carbon pollution in both the United States through the U.S. Climate Alliance and around the globe with the Under2 Coalition, which has grown to include 188 jurisdictions collectively representing more than 1.2 billion people and $28.9 trillion GDP – equivalent to over 16 percent of the global population and 39 percent of the global economy.
The Governor also joined United Nations Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael Bloomberg to launch America’s Pledge on climate change to help compile and quantify the actions of states, cities and businesses to drive down their greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. In September 2018, the State of California will convene the world’s climate leaders in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit, where representatives from subnational governments, businesses, investors and civil society will gather with the direct goal of supporting the Paris Agreement.
This year, Governor Brown traveled to China to build closer climate ties with President Xi Jinping, Russia to call for deeper trans-pacific collaboration on climate change at the Eastern Economic Forum, Canada to officially link California’s carbon market with Quebec and Ontario and New York to discuss subnational climate action with the UN Secretary-General and open Climate Week NYC 2017.
Photo captions:
1.) Governor Brown delivers remarks at European Parliament climate dialogue.
2.) Governor Brown at European Parliament climate dialogue.
3.) Governor Brown addresses Baden-Württemberg State Parliament.
4.) Governor Brown at Baden-Württemberg State Parliament.
5.) Governor Brown at European Parliament climate dialogue.
For high-resolution copies of these photos, contact Danella Debel at Danella.Debel@gov.ca.gov.