California Climate & Energy Collaborative

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Priority Area: Climate Action
Barrier: Planning Capacity

Challenge/Local/State

Description

State Solution
(Type of Activity: Program Implementation and Outreach )

The state should fund trusted regional entities such as health departments, COGs, and RENs to provide sustained technical assistance and convening support to small CBOs and under-resourced jurisdictions, reducing the burden of climate planning through shared staffing, standardized tools, and training.

Existing Examples of Progress: 1. UC Berkeley's CoolClimate Network has developed a live GHG inventory and climate action data platform for California cities and counties, featuring inventories from 2010-2022 alongside actionable metrics like EV registrations and heat pumps installed that help local governments set concrete targets and communicate community benefits. 2. CARB has initiated research contracts, including one with Cal Poly, to identify challenges in GHG inventory development, evaluate existing tools, and develop best practices and capacity building resources for local jurisdictions. 3. In December 2025, CARB released new Planning and Capacity Building Grants for sustainable transportation designed to set the stage for future implementation grants. 4. The Grasslands Climate Stewards Program at UC Merced demonstrates a model for building locally rooted technical capacity through hands-on training, with goals to expand and offer continuing education credit by 2027.
Further Progress Pathways: 1. CARB and LCI have formed a Climate Action Planning Technical Advisory Group to review CAP literature, inventory development, and integration with General Plans, with the goal of providing clearer state guidance on CAP creation and updates to help cities take more effective action. 2. CARB's Cap-and-Trade Investment Plan, which previously guided three-year allocation of auction proceeds, is not moving forward for 2025-2028 due to changes in the underlying statutory requirement, leaving stakeholders without a clear pathway to influence how Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund proceeds will be allocated under the reauthorized Cap-and-Invest program.
Region: San Francisco Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Los Angeles, Inland Deserts, San Diego, Statewide

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