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Innovate Locally to Inspire Change Globally
California Leaders in Climate Resistance
Virtual Summit
February 27 – 28, 2025
The sole purpose of the sub-national summit was to accelerate pathways to protect California and Californians from worsening climate/weather disasters. The two-day agenda was designed to inspire and accelerate action. The summit began with goal-setting talks and panels on what needs to be done, followed by a practical intervention focused on how to take action — guided by an "adaptation blueprint continuum" — that encouraged participants to locate themselves within the process and reflect on barriers and strategies for progress.
This summit has been 20 years in the making. The two Pontifical science academies report directly to the Pope and have been organizing climate meetings since early 2000, overseen by Pope John Paul II, followed by Pope Benedict, culminating in a summit in May of 2024, led by Pope Francis, that included mayors and governors across the world, including Governor Newsom from California.
Summit Themes
Additional Summit Themes
- Health and Weather/Climate Extremes
- Climate Displacement
- Climate Actions
- Low-probability, High-impact Events
MAST Strategy
California’s resilience strategy is further informed by the MAST framework — Mitigation, Adaptation, and Societal Transformation, developed by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS), and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS), ensuring a comprehensive and forward-looking approach to addressing climate impacts.
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Specific Impacts
Climate Displacement
California is a regional microcosm of global climate displacement, experiencing extreme heat, drought, and wildfires.
- In 2023, over half of fire-related displacement in the U.S. occurred in California (Campa, 2024).
- From 2017 to 2023, more than 2.2 million Californians were displaced by climate disasters (IDMC, 2024).
- In just the first month of 2025, Los Angeles wildfires displaced residents from 6,800 structures and forced 200,000 people to evacuate.
Innovate Locally to Inspire Change Globally
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, formed a new initiative on Climate Resilience and brought researchers, policy makers and faith leaders together in May 2024 to understand the scientific and societal challenges of climate change and recommend solutions for resilient people and resilient ecosystems. The California summit is the first of 8-10 summits being planned around the world in 2025.
Press CoverageShaping a Resilient Future
We are calling for a One California Resilience Plan.
- We must stand together to keep people, communities, and businesses safe. We are never going to protect our communities by pointing fingers at our neighbor or at the neighboring city or state. Everyone is affected by these worsening natural disasters, and we need the cooperation and participation of leaders and community members across California to support action.
- Health of the people and the ecosystems must be central to policies that stabilize climate change below dangerous levels. Physical and mental health should take central place.
- Advocate for a swift, multifaceted approach to climate resilience: rapidly reducing emissions, adapting to climate shifts, and implementing innovative financing mechanisms.
- Resilience should be included in all government policies and community benefits incorporated into private sector development. We need to rethink systems, identify gaps, and find cleaner, faster, and cheaper solutions.
