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California’s investment in actionable scientific research is a cornerstone of its leadership on climate change. Each year, scientific understanding of climate change and its impacts improves. In California, world-class scientific researchers are currently improving our understanding of how climate change impacts our state and what we can do about it. This evolving scientific understanding must underpin all our efforts to strengthen climate resilience.
A science-to-action approach that advances partnership-based research allows us to better understand the location, timing, and extent of climate impacts and will support investments and policies that reduce future climate risk. For example, the Fourth Assessment was designed to be actionable by state and local stakeholders and supports adaptation practice across the state, including the siting of transmission towers in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the California Public Utility Commission’s rulemaking on electricity and natural gas sector adaptation. Many local counties and government agencies use the projections to plan for sea-level rise, extreme heat, and other climate impacts.
As a state, we commit to continued support for new and innovative climate research, and application of findings for the purpose of adaptation. This includes supporting research that advances a diversity of knowledges, including quantitative and qualitative research, tribal expertise, traditional knowledges, applied science, oral histories, and community-based expertise.