The governor's office said Gov. and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom opened their first day at COP31 at Türkiye’s International Forestry Training Centre, touring firefighting simulators, meeting about three dozen trainee firefighters and joining the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Under2 Coalition and governors and regional leaders for a high-level exchange on wildfire resilience.
The governor's office said the visit highlighted California’s investments and technologies; the state says it has invested more than $5 billion in wildfire and forest resilience, assembled the world's largest aerial firefighting fleet and deployed tools that map and detect fires in real time.
The governor's office said specific state tools include the Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System, which it says has flown more than 2,000 missions since 2019; an average annual increase of 1,800 full-time and 600 seasonal CAL FIRE positions over the past five years; four C-130H airtankers in service with seven planned; and the FireSat partnership whose first three wildfire-detection satellites launched in June.
The governor's office said Türkiye’s International Forestry Training Centre has operated since 2011 and sits on a 50-hectare campus with training rooms, firefighting and flight simulators and advanced driving courses; the FAO partnership is expanding the centre’s international training programs, particularly in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
“Every fire season, communities in California and Türkiye are asked to do the impossible,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “What we saw here today, from the training and technology to the courage of these young firefighters, is how you meet that challenge.”
“Wildfire doesn't stop at borders, and neither does the courage of the people who fight it,” First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom said. “When we learn from one another, every community is safer.”
The governor's office said participants compared forest management and frontline firefighting practices, discussed which approaches could be adapted at home and identified opportunities for continued cooperation including technical exchanges and training.
The governor's office said the Trump administration did not attend the summit and framed California’s delegation as continuing international engagement on climate resilience; California’s delegation, the office said, included Natural Resources Secretary ; Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary ; California Public Utilities Commission President ; California Air Resources Board Chair ; and Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation Director Samuel Assefa.
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 4 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
State
Wade Crowfoot
Secretary for Natural Resources
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Region 5 Photography, USDA Forest Service / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
State
Karen Ross
Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture
Named once in this story.
Portrait: California Department of Food and Agriculture / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
State
John Reynolds
President, California Public Utilities Commission
Named once in this story.
State
Lauren Sanchez
Chair, California Air Resources Board
Named once in this story.
Sources & methodology
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