California, China allies on climate: Gov Brown

California and China need to work more closely and encourage each other to take more aggressive steps to de-carbonize, said California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday ahead of his upcoming trip to China.

"I want people in China to know that the people in America are enthusiastically working to de-carbonize," Brown told China Daily in his State Capitol office.

The weeklong trip starting Friday will take him to Beijing, Chengdu and Nanjing, where he is scheduled to meet with national and regional officials and promote climate change cooperation.

The trip comes four years after his last China trip - a trade mission in 2013.

The goal of this trip is to strengthen the working relations between China and California on zero-emission vehicles, regulatory strategies, reducing carbon pollution and research development, particularly at the university level, said Brown.

In Beijing, he will attend the Clean Energy Ministerial, an annual meeting of national energy ministers and other high-level delegates, and meet with members of Under2 Clean Energy Forum, a coalition dedicated to fighting climate change.

After Beijing, the governor will travel to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, the first Chinese provinces joining the Under2 Coalition, which includes cities, states and provinces who have signed an international agreement promoted by Brown to reduce emissions at rates faster than those called for under the Paris agreement.

"I'd like to see how obstacles are overcome. I want to see what is being done in these two places," said Brown. "I'd like to take high-speed rail. I like high-speed rail."

California is working with Chinese sub-national jurisdictions to achieve standardization of some environmental rules and promote joint ventures on clean energy investments, according to the governor.

He said technicians in both countries should work together to standardize the rules for electric cars, new energy and all the different consumer goods, so that it's more efficient in producing the lower-carbon future that the world needs.

"The challenge of climate change is greater than what the world is now doing. We are not doing enough, China is not doing enough, California is not doing enough, and the world is not doing enough," said Brown.

He said the world needs to face the fact that greenhouse gases are still rising. "We have to make the turn and making the turn is easier if many countries and states work together," he said.

"Mr. Trump has a different view, I don't think that view will last for too long," he said. "In the meanwhile, states and cities are ready to work with China."

Contact the writers at liazhu@chinadailyusa.com