This document provides historical timelines with respect to New Jersey’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (i.e., climate change mitigation) as well as reduce its vulnerability to climate change impacts (i.e., climate change adaptation). They provide a window into the evolution of innovations in New Jersey climate change policy. For context, the report juxtaposes these timelines with seminal United States climate change policy mitigation and adaptation actions.

These timelines were originally developed and shared with participants at the March 21, 2025, conference Sustaining Innovation in New Jersey Climate Policy: Past, Present and Future hosted by the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center (NJCCRC) at Rutgers University. Feedback from conference attendees, additional research, and more recent policy actions have guided the creation of an updated version. The NJCCRC welcomes additional feedback and expects to periodically update these “living” timelines to capture this slice of New Jersey’s environmental history.

Two additional timelines on key New Jersey demographic and infrastructure milestones, as well as technology innovations, were also developed as part of the contextualization of New Jersey’s climate change policy history and can be found within the documented Conference Proceedings.