Each year, hundreds of Californians work to improve the health and wellbeing of their communities by spearheading California Climate Investments projects, which are designed to support a more sustainable, more resilient future. Learn what these projects have accomplished in the Central Coast counties of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz.

 

Cumulative Investments in the Central Coast

As of November 30, 2023

$419 million total implemented funds

4% of statewide California Climate Investments funding

18,303 projects

$263 million benefiting priority populations

63% of funds benefiting priority populations

3,954,670 MTCO2e estimated GHG emissions reductions

4,083 tons estimated criteria air pollutant reductions


2023 Achievements

Reporting period: Dec 1, 2022 – Nov 30, 2023

$62 million in newly implemented funds

258 new projects


What does this mean for you?

Here is some of what our 2023 grantees are bringing to the region:

  • 24,891 acres of land conservation or restoration

  • Over 250 projects in the natural and working lands, transit, and other sectors will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 650 thousand metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent

  • 39 million gallons of fuel reductions through transit, affordable housing, and agricultural projects


Central Coast Climate Investments in Action


San Luis Obispo Homeless Shelter Runs on Solar 

 

 
  • The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments completed the Cool Blocks Try Transit project, a neighborhood outreach and capacity building campaign

  • Over 400 residents of the Isla Vista community participated in a series of workshops to learn about climate change mitigation and resilience measures they could adopt as individuals and as a community

  • Supported by a $25,000 grant from the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program in partnership with the Empowerment Institute’s Cool Blocks program

Santa Barbara Cool Blocks Project Inspires Community Climate Action


Discover more projects in your region

Read Central Coast project profiles


Interested in bringing more projects to the Central Coast?

Apply! Your first stop to learn more is to explore programs.

A group of people work together on a project.
A collage of photos showing an electric truck, a schoolyard, firefighters at a controlled burn, food distribution, alternative manure management, and a community group collaborating on a poster.


A number of implemented California Climate Investments projects span multiple geographic boundaries (e.g., a transit bus line or large forestry project crossing county lines). While most projects can be tied to one project address, where it is not feasible to associate a project with a single region, district, or county, the same project data is included in each area that benefits from the investment. This method of attribution tends to increase the implemented project totals reported here. See the Project List for a more detailed explanation of the methodology the California Air Resources Board uses to evaluate projects that cross geographic boundaries.

About Us

California Climate Investments is a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment - particularly in disadvantaged and low-income communities.

Contact Us

1-800-757-2907 | info@caclimateinvestments.ca.gov | @CAClimateInvest