California Governor Gavin Newsom opened California's participation at Climate Week NYC by announcing new international partnerships on clean energy, energy security and climate resilience, including a new Memorandum of Understanding with Spain.
Newsom joined Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Deputy Prime Minister Sara Aagesen to sign the MOU, which expands cooperation on clean energy, electrification, battery storage, carbon markets, methane reduction, climate resilience and sustainable development.
"California is proving that cutting climate pollution and leading the clean energy transition is an economic growth strategy," Newsom said. "Clean energy means more jobs, lower household costs, stronger energy security, and the opportunity to win the clean industries of the future."
He added: "At a moment of increasing global instability, California will continue building strong relationships with partners around the globe to build a cleaner, more prosperous, more secure future."
At America Is All In's Local to Global Exchange, Newsom took part in a fireside chat moderated by Antha Williams of Bloomberg Philanthropies alongside European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra. The discussion covered how California and the European Union can deepen collaboration on clean energy deployment, energy security, economic competitiveness, carbon markets and climate innovation.
The Governor highlighted California's experience of worsening climate impacts, including two worst-in-a-millennium droughts in the past 15 years followed by the wettest three-week period in state history. He and Hoekstra noted the hottest summer on record, including Europe's summer of extreme heat, which claimed tens of thousands of lives and put severe pressure on communities and critical infrastructure.
California this summer released an updated Extreme Heat Action Plan and expanded its CalHeatScore tool to give communities real-time, ZIP-code-level heat risk information. On Monday, Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency to streamline preparations for a historic El Niño and support responses to heightened risks of flooding, coastal erosion and severe storms.
The Governor and Commissioner also discussed the convergence of climate, energy security and economic competitiveness, with both warning that California and its partners cannot afford to cede the industries, jobs and supply chains that will define the next generation of the global economy.
Newsom met German Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider to discuss deepening California-Germany cooperation on clean energy, climate action and shared economic opportunity, joined by California EPA Secretary Yana Garcia and California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. Talks covered electric vehicle incentives, battery storage for grid reliability, and competing with China in green energy and zero-emission vehicle production.
Newsom also joined First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom at the Alice Waters Institute's annual lunch honoring the Farm-to-School movement. Nearly 3 million California students benefit from the state's Farm to School programs, and every $1 invested through California Department of Food and Agriculture farmer grants generates an estimated $2.01 in economic activity.
Since Newsom took office in 2019, California has added more than 37,000 megawatts of utility-scale clean and renewable energy, with battery storage rising from fewer than 700 MW to more than 21,000 MW. The state leads the nation in clean energy jobs with 552,300 workers, according to a 2025 E2 report.