California gov named special adviser to UN climate conference

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Tuesday was named a special adviser to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, later this year.

The appointment by Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama came less than two weeks after President Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the 195-nation Paris climate accord.

Dozens of business executives, mayors and governors including Brown have vowed to uphold the country’s commitment to the agreement despite Trump’s decision to withdraw.

Brown has become a high-profile advocate for climate action on the world stage in recent weeks. The California governor traveled to China last week, where he spoke with President Xi Jinping about climate change and signed bilateral climate deals.

{mosads}He also hosted German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks in San Francisco, reaffirming his state’s commitment to combating the effects of climate change and abiding by the terms of the Paris deal.

When he travels to Germany for the U.N. conference — COP 23 — in November, Brown will be a special adviser for states and regions, representing local jurisdictions committed to fighting climate change. He’ll be joined at COP 23 by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D).

“This decision has redoubled our commitment to forge a Grand Coalition that includes all levels of government, businesses and civil society, to take climate action forward with the urgency it deserves,” Bainimarama, the incoming president of the U.N. conference, said.

“I look forward to taking the next step later this year with Governor Kate Brown and Governor Jay Inslee when we join Prime Minister Bainimarama in Bonn to show that states and regions will fulfill the Paris commitment,” Brown said in a statement.