ADVOCACY REPORT
Lessons Learned During International Delegation Travel and Connections to California Advocacy
In 2023, I had the privilege of joining two separate delegations of business and agricultural leaders seeking to gain a greater understanding of global energy and climate issues.
Trade Mission to Japan On the trade mission to Japan this past spring, I participated in meetings alongside California’s Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross, Blue Diamond ’s Alicia Rockwell and others.
Japan’s Smart Energy Week coincided with our trip, and the nation highlighted their
Emily Rooney with Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, GO-Biz Director DeeDee Myers, Blue Diamond’s Alicia Rockwell and ag industry leaders. Photo credit: Ag Council of California
commitment to be carbon neutral by 2050. Similarly, California is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 through greenhouse gas emission reductions and the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Japan is advancing smart and sustainable energy solutions through innovative technologies. In my observation, Japan is more focused on tangible progress in areas that are often neglected in California. Importantly, and my personal favorite, was the use of biomass energy. Public and private Japanese funding is being dedicated to biomass initiatives, showing a commitment to moving the technology forward, advancements that we would like to replicate here in California. Delegation to Spain In October I participated in a delegation led by Secretary Ross to Spain regarding climate-smart agriculture and connected with our Spanish counterparts over the issues we face in California. Spain is embarking on research over the next few years to attempt to measure carbon emissions at the farm level. The Institut Valencia d’Investigatacions Agraries (IVIA), an agricultural research entity, is one of the participants in this research and I am eager to learn more about the findings. As we discussed Governor Newsom’s signing of Senate Bill (SB) 253, a bill that requires significant emissions reporting, the IVIA director quipped, “the farmers are not going to like that.” At least in this space, it seems we have a universal language. SB 253 requires businesses with over one billion dollars in annual revenues to report not only direct (Scope 1) and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 2), but also supply chain emissions (Scope 3). The Ag Council advocated
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