LOS ANGELES — Gov. Jerry Brown of California has signed several bills to help build the market for electric cars in his state, two days ahead of speaking alongside world leaders at the United Nations this week for a summit meeting on climate change.

The legislation is designed to make electric cars more affordable for low-income residents, and the intent is to have at least one million zero-emission and near-zero-emission vehicles on the state’s roads by 2023.

California already has more electric vehicles on its roads than any other state, with an estimated 40 percent of all electric cars sold in the United States driven by the state’s residents. Earlier this month, the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative, a coalition of advocacy groups and car manufacturers, announced that more than 100,000 plug-in cars had been sold in the state during the last four years.

Mr. Brown has made combating climate change a cornerstone of his administration, traveling to China and Mexico to sign agreements to limit greenhouse-gas emissions. He has also continued to call for enforcement of the state’s cap-and-trade program, even as some have called for it to be scaled back while the economy is sputtering. On Tuesday, he will participate in a panel discussing cities’ roles in fighting climate change and another on carbon pricing.