University of California, Los Angeles
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

UCLA recognizes that it is affected by the larger community of which we are a part. Our institution continues to engage in local public policy processes related to sustainability - whether on renewable energy deployment, sustainable transportation, climate resilience or other important topics and areas like health equity and environmental justice.

UCLA Transportation engages with public transit institutions including Antelope Valley Transit Authority, Santa Clarita Transit, Amtrak, Metro, and even the Los Angeles World Airports (FlyAway bus) to promote more sustainable routes, transit locations and hours, and the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. UCLA helped create the Sepulveda Transit Corridor for All (STC4All ; https://www.stc4all.org/) coalition, which supports an equitable and accessible Sepulveda Transit Corridor project that includes a station on the UCLA campus and a direct and seamless connection to the Purple/D Line Westwood Village station (https://advocacy.assets.support2.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Jan11.html).

UCLA's Sustainable LA Grand Challenge (SLAGC) serves as both a partner and voice for more sustainable policies across the L.A. region. SLAGC supported the City of L.A.'s 2030 carbon neutrality goal (https://sustainablela.ucla.edu/news/sustainable-la-grand-challenge-ready-partner-citys-new-goal-carbon-neutrality-2030), and helped secure $1 million in grant funding through the Cool City Challenge (https://sustainablela.ucla.edu/news/ucla-contributes-los-angeles-1-million-win-fight-climate-change-cool-city-challenge). The SLAGC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Fellows program also amplifies UCLA's influence on local policymaking: https://sustainablela.ucla.edu/news/fellows-program-focuses-solving-equity-diversity-and-inclusion-issues-sustainability-across. EDI Fellows receive support to pursue local climate justice solutions, including within policymaking settings.

UCLA serves as a thought leader and model for public policies that operate locally. UCLA Sustainability supports a Single-Use Plastics Policy (https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/zero-waste/single-use-plastic-policy/) that applies to any on-campus and other UCLA-affiliated event, and strives to be a leader in the pursuit of such zero waste and public health-oriented initiatives.

In the case of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, its public policy, social welfare and urban planning programs and more than a dozen affiliated centers and institutes have long been a source of data-driven guidance for decision-makers in the public and private sectors (https://luskin.ucla.edu/growing-influence). For instance, L.A. County engaged the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) to mitigate the environmental impact of disposable utensils, as part of a county-wide pledge to phase out single-use plastics. In the process of LCI delivering a high-profile report identifying prime targets for policy action and then COVID-19 disruptions, the work of LCI researcher Daniel Coffee - initially as an intern with the L.A. County Chief Sustainability Office - helped drive the legislative effort to curb plastic waste back on track. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to eliminate single-use plastics in county-run facilities, and other local governments acted similarly. Relationships between UCLA and government policymakers facilitate such positive outcomes for sustainability through public policy.

Both through campus-specific and UC-wide channels, UCLA maintains engagement with California state policymakers, including in the areas of climate change, water and other sustainability-related topics.

UC State Government Relations (SGR ; https://ucop.edu/state-governmental-relations/index.html) serves as the University’s primary representative to state elected officials and agencies, providing advocacy on legislation and public policies that provide for, extend, and enhance the University’s authority to conduct its business operations in a manner that is efficient and sustainable, as well as advocating against measures that would limit this authority.

SGR staff at the system and campus levels have activated students, staff, faculty and alumni through the UC Advocate Network (UCAN ; https://universityofcalifornia.edu/get-involved/advocate). UCAN spearheaded a climate action campaign with petitions from UC community members (https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/get-involved/advocate/climate-change), in concert with calls for state budget funding to support climate change programs. The product of this advocacy is $185 million in climate funding from the State of California (https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/uc-statement-2022-23-california-budget-0 ).


UCLA's School of Law provides examples of how students and faculty may bridge the gaps between the classroom and scholarly research to the State Capitol and agency board rooms. The California Environmental Legislation & Policy Clinic (https://law.ucla.edu/academics/experiential-program/law-clinic-courses/california-environmental-legislation-and-policy-clinic) supports law students through direct work with staffers in the California legislature and other actors in state policymaking. Examples of UCLA student work related to sustainability advocacy include:
- supporting equitable groundwater rules (https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-law-students-advocate-for-equitable-groundwater-rules),
- establishing a funding mechanism for sea level rise adaptation, and
- advancing measures to enable greater local wildfire prevention and mitigation.

The University of California's Office of Federal Governmental Relations (https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/index.html) is located at the UC Washington Center in Washington, DC. UC Federal Government Relations is the University’s liaison to the federal government, working with Congress, the administration, federal agencies and national organizations to advocate for the University and its missions in education, research and public service. Through briefings and campus tours, as well as meetings with and letters to decisionmakers, the University’s efforts demonstrate the value of investing in UC with federal funding that supports the University’s energy and sustainability goals. View more about UC advocacy priorities at the website listed above, and on this page, in particular: https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/policy-legislation/research-science-technology.html and https://www.ucop.edu/federal-governmental-relations/advocacy/federal-research-advocacy/index.html.

UCLA Senior Leadership have conducted multiple trips to Capitol Hill to educate members of congress, agency officials and staff on our campus efforts on sustainability broadly, UCLA’s Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, and advance policies and research opportunities for climate change. Other examples include the federal relations team’s involvement in congressional proposals to promote policies and funding in support of climate change initiatives. Some of our policy areas include clean energy, transportation, community engagement and more.

UCLA houses the Governors' Climate & Forests Task Force (https://www.gcftf.org/) Secretariat, which supports and facilitates work by 43 Governors and 86 delegates of member states and provinces that span several continents. GCFTF works to protect forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at scale through bottom-up approaches to sustainable forest and land use. GCFTF's work is in line with the Paris agreement, and - with subnational governments viewed as critical actors in implementing the international climate policy agenda - GCFTF provides a framework advancing jurisdiction-wide approaches to protecting forests, reducing emissions, and enhancing livelihoods across tropical forest states and provinces. GCFTF supports advocacy and policy change by bringing together high-level government officials with partners, private sector companies, civil society organizations, etc. to cooperate on shared goals; tracking impact to assess progress toward implementing important climate commitments, and working directly with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Representatives from the UCLA School of Law and other parts of campus also continue to engage in climate diplomacy and lead international bodies calling for climate action (https://mailchi.mp/law.ucla.edu/emmett-annual-report-2022). Law students and scholars participated in delegations and task forces at the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) 27 in Egypt. Elsewhere, UCLA representatives convened workshop and commission meetings that identified and advanced strategies and solutions to flooding and climate geoengineering (https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/ucla-research-informs-commission-on-climate-risks).


Advancing Conservation Policy in the Congo Basin

Launched by UCLA and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in 2015, the Congo Basin Institute (CBI) aims to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges, namely food and water security, climate change, biodiversity loss, public health and emerging diseases. As UCLA’s first foreign affiliate branch, CBI works with organizations and local government and communities to find solutions to environmental and developmental problems facing Central Africa, and not only save the Congo rainforest but also transform the troubled Congo Basin.

Thomas Smith is a distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA and founder of CBI. Smith is also the founding president of the Conservation Action Research Network, founding director of UCLA’s Center for Tropical Research, and co-founder of the Bird Genoscape Project. These efforts by Prof. Smith span dozens of countries in support of tropical biodiversity and conservation. The work by him and his team make a difference through science-based solutions to save the planet. (https://luskin.ucla.edu/ucla-luskin-faculty-win-public-impact-research-awards and https://www.cbi.ucla.edu/our-work)

UCLA's Office of Government and Community Relations (G&CR) coordinates with the UCLA community, the University of California, and national, state and local governmental entities to generate support for the University and UCLA’s interests. G&CR builds relationships with constituent groups, assists community leaders in gaining access to UCLA’s resources, and coordinates the University's response to a wide range of political and policy issues. It also advises administrators and faculty on strategies to facilitate constructive dialogue with public-sector leaders.