On Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Marty Walsh released the draft of the 2014 Climate Action Plan to solicit commentary from the Boston public. The plan, as seen below, addresses a number of issues facing the city in several different areas, including neighborhoods, development, transportation and overall preparedness.
Mayor Walsh discussed climate change, rising sea levels and the potential impact they’ll have on Boston in the near future at the end of October while attending the ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX). He was joined by the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s chief planner Kairos Shen; Boston’s environment and energy chief Brian Swett; and the city planners of Cambridge and Chelsea to announced the Living With Water design challenge – a design charrette to crowdsource preventative ideas from architects, planners and designers.
“The 2014 Climate Action Plan update provides a transparent and analytically robust strategy for reaching our climate goals,” said Mayor Walsh in a statement. “The City of Boston is leading by example through its emissions reduction efforts and we continue to prioritize cost-saving measures that also help the environment.”
According to the plan, the five most significant areas of focus will be:
- More rigorous greenhouse gas measuring and modeling, and a first look towards our 2050 carbon goal.
- Comprehensive climate preparedness strategies.
- A focus on key cross-cutting themes including social equity, economic development, and public health and safety.
- More extensive and inclusive community engagement process.
- A performance measurement system to measure year-over-6 2014 DRAFT CLIMATE ACTION PLAN year progress and keep us on track to meeting our goals.
Mayor Walsh also hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent come 2020, and 80 percent by 2050. The City of Boston also posted data online that shows municipal operations greenhouse gas emission were reduced by 27 percent since 2005 (including emissions adjustments for the purchase of bio-fuel and renewable energy credits), smashing its goal of a 25 percent reduction a solid seven years ahead of schedule.
For those willing to comment on the draft below, the city will be entertaining thoughts for three weeks time. The finalized plan is expected to be released sometime in early January. Feedback may be submitted via email CAP2014@cityofboston.gov, online at Engage.GreenovateBoston.org, or letters sent to:
Attn: Nancy Girard, Commissioner
Environment Department, Suite 709
1 City Hall Plaza
Boston, Ma
“The 2014 Update establishes a short-term action plan to reach Boston’s 2020 goals, as well as creates a vision for what will essentially be a carbon-neutral Boston by 2050,” added Swett in a statement. “While municipal emissions are less than three percent of the citywide total, the City’s leadership is critical for encouraging other businesses, organizations and individuals to take actions of their own.”
Back in July, Mayor Walsh kicked off the inaugural Civic Academies session, the first in a series of public events to garner community feedback on specific facets of city life and collaborate on solutions while fostering the relationship between municipal government and residents. The first pertained to digital government engagement. The second, taking place on November 17 at the New England Aquarium at 6:30 p.m., will revolve around the climate action plan.
Draft 2014 Climate Action Plan
