California recorded one of the steepest single-year declines in climate pollution in its history in 2023, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent in a year when the state’s economy continued to expand. According to newly released data, the drop was exceeded only during the economic upheaval of the Great Recession in 2009 and the extraordinary shutdowns of 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This time, however, the reductions came without a collapse in economic activity, a point advocates say carries particular weight as California seeks to demonstrate that aggressive climate action can coexist with growth.
The findings appear in the 17th annual California Green Innovation Index, published by the research group Next 10, which tracks the state’s progress toward its long-term climate goals. While the report makes clear that California remains off pace to meet its 2030 emissions targets, it also concludes that the recent acceleration in emissions reductions has narrowed the gap. At the current trajectory, the state is now projected to reach its 2030 goal in 2035, two years earlier than last year’s estimate.