California Landscape of Climate Finance

CPI estimates that California requires an annual average of USD 62 billion from 2023 to 2035 to meet its climate goals, with zero-emission vehicles accounting for half of this need. While climate finance spending grew by 26% annually between 2019 and 2022, reaching USD 39 billion in 2022, a gap remains. The report notes that finance is distributed relatively evenly per capita by county and is not currently prioritized for areas with higher pollution metrics.

• California requires an annual average investment of USD 62 billion between 2023 and 2035 to achieve its climate goals, with zero-emission vehicles representing 50% of these needs. After 2035, the annual average need increases to USD 79 billion, driven primarily by the higher uptake of zero-emission vehicles.
• In 2022, CPI tracked USD 39 billion in climate finance spending, which covers 63% of the state's annual needs for the 2023-2035 period. Between 2019 and 2022, climate finance grew at an annual rate of 26%, with the majority of this growth originating from the private sector.
• Transport is the primary destination sector for both public and private climate finance. While spending is distributed relatively evenly per capita across counties, it is not channeled at higher rates to areas with worse historical and current pollution metrics, as measured by CalEnviroScreen scores.
• To close the investment gap, the report suggests prioritizing public funds for bottleneck technologies, such as renewable energy transmission (USD 1.1 billion per year) and electric vehicle charging (USD 44 million per year through 2035).

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2024). California Landscape of Climate Finance. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/california-landscape-of-climate-finance/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. California Landscape of Climate Finance. 2024. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/california-landscape-of-climate-finance/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=California Landscape of Climate Finance |date=29 January 2024 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/california-landscape-of-climate-finance/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2024california, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{California Landscape of Climate Finance}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2024}, month = jan, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/california-landscape-of-climate-finance/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }