27 The success stories grow by the week:
Chula Vista, CA’s greenhouse gas emissions from municipal sources in 2008 had dropped approximately 43 percent below 1990 levels.
Seattle, WA, reduced emissions by 2005 to 8 percent below 1990 levels. In 2010, the City Council is exploring the goal of becoming a carbon neutral city.
Tallahassee, FL, has met its goal to reduce emissions from municipal operations by 5 percent by 2009.
New York, NY, has seen citywide emissions fall 9 percent since 2005. The city is on pace to reach its goal to reduce emissions 30 percent by 2030.
Salt Lake City, UT, has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from municipal operations by 31 percent since 2001.
Portland, OR, reduced carbon emissions in 2008 to 1 percent below 1990 levels, despite rapid population growth.
San Francisco, CA, reduced community-wide emissions by 5 percent between 1990 and 2005, totaling 670,000 tons of CO2
e.
Minneapolis, MN, reduced community-wide emissions by 7 percent (440,700 metric tons) between 2000 and 2006.
FIVE MILESTONES: THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Local governments have set the most ag- gressive climate action goals of any level of government. The City of Chicago, for example, has committed to reduce its emissions 80 percent by 2050. How will cities and counties reach these goals? Through a proven process developed by ICLEI, called the Five Milestones for Climate Mitigation. All the local govern- ments listed above, and hundreds more, follow ICLEI’s milestone process or some form of it:
MILESTONE ONE: CONDUCT A BASELINE EMISSIONS INVENTORY AND FORECAST
MILESTONE TWO: ADOPT AN EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGET
MILESTONE THREE: DEVELOP A LOCAL CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
MILESTONE FOUR: IMPLEMENT THE PLAN’S POLICIES AND MEASURES
MILESTONE FIVE: MONITOR PROGRESS, REPORT RESULTS, AND RE-EVALUATE THE PLAN
“It’s no accident that the milestones be- gin and end with tracking greenhouse gas emissions,” explains Malick. “Rigor- ous monitoring and evaluation is a key to success, and ICLEI provides all the tools and resources to help local governments measure and manage their emissions.
Successful Cities
10.1 - Otay Ranch Town Center in Chula Vista, CA. 10.2 - Waterfront in Seattle, WA. 10.3 - The old Capitol Building in Tallahassee, FL. 10.4 - The downtown skyline of New York City. 10.5 - Downtown Salt Lake City, UT. 10.6 - Portland, OR, at dawn. 10.7 - Alamo Square, San Francisco, CA. 10.8 - Downtown Minneapolis, MN, skyline.
IMAGES: ALEX VRYSXY; RYAN HARVEY; ISTOCKPHOTO (3); QUASIPALM; SKYGUY414; STUART SEEGER; URBAN
Climate Action Lessons From Chicago
The renowned Chicago Climate Action Plan, released in 2008, was hailed as one of the most comprehensive and progressive climate action plans ever created. For that reason, the City of Chicago, ICLEI, and the Global Philanthropy Partnership produced the report, Lessons Learned: Creating the Chicago Climate Action Plan.
Download the report on ICLEI USA’s website to learn more about the City of Chicago’s innovative approach to climate action planning, and its key lessons from this experience, including:
• How partnerships shaped the climate action planning process.
• What resources were used to develop the plan.
• How the Chicago Climate Action Plan concurrently tackles climate change mitigation and climate adaption.
• How other communities can benefi t from Chicago’s rigorous research.
To view the report, visit
www.icleiusa.org, and enter the report name in the search fi eld.
“The pace of progress we’re see-
ing today is inspi r ing,” she adds. “Local governments have written the playbook on reducing emissions to combat climate change. We can only hope that other levels of government follow our lead.” PE
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8
Local Action Moves the World •
www.icleiusa.org
PLANET EARTH \\ CLIMATE MITIGATION
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