California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia agree to address shipping’s carbon footprint

This agreement builds on a decade of collaboration through the Pacific Coast Collaborative (PCC) to deliver innovative climate leadership that is improving economic opportunity and prosperity, protecting public health and safety, and ensuring community and ecosystem resilience.

It leverages our strong record of regional cooperation to aggressively reduce emissions across all sectors, lead a global effort against ocean acidification, and innovate new carbon reduction efforts in areas like food waste and clean construction

Taking the above into consideration, the partners made the following commitments.

#1 Support an equitable and just transition to a low-carbon and climate resilient future:

• Invest in or directly support overburdened communities to expand access to low-carbon, climate resilient technologies.
• Greatly expand the ability of overburdened communities to be engaged and empowered in how investments are determined, programs are developed and implemented.
• Collaborate and align the work to take full advantage of federal investment.

#2 Invest in climate infrastructure at a regional scale:

• Accelerate progress in creating a regional zero-carbon, reliable, and resilient electricity grid by understanding shared needs and solutions, coordinating planning, and sharing lessons.
• Accelerate the transition to regional zero-emission transportation by investing in electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling stations.
• Support the region’s maritime ports in their work to decarbonize and modernize equipment and operations.

#3 Protect communities and natural and working lands and coasts from wildfire, drought, heat waves, ocean acidification, and flooding:

• Invest in and increase forest and community resiliency across the region to minimize the occurrence, impact, and spread of devastating wildfire and smoke.
• Work together to drive regional resilience to heat events and impacts by investing in programs and activities that decrease the burden of heat impacts on people and infrastructure and by improving community awareness of risks of severe heat events and associated health impacts.

#4 Re-confirm ongoing successful PCC efforts:

• Advance markets for low-carbon building materials through the Low Carbon Construction Task Force.
• Reduce the climate footprint of building heating and cooling through the Thermal Decarbonization Working Group.
• Advance regionally-aligned energy efficiency standards through the Codes and Standards Working Group.
• Advance transportation electrification through the ZeroEmission Vehicle Infrastructure Working Group.
• Achieve low carbon fuels goals and aligned regional strategies through the Low Carbon Fuels Working Group.
• Help public and private institutions electrify their fleets through the West Coast Electric Fleets initiative.
• Increase regional climate resilience through the Climate Resilience Risk and Business Case Working Group and Climate Resilience Carbon Sequestration Working Group.
• Advance coordination of scientific efforts and policy actions on reducing ocean acidification and climate impacts on the ocean through the Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Working Group and International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification.
• Reduce the climate impacts of food loss and waste in the region through the Pacific Coast Food Waste.