"Aspirational Goals" Approved by City Council on June 21, 2021 for The City of Mesa's Climate Action Plan for 2050

No need to start-from-scratch or to reinvent-the-wheel, dozens of cities are as usual way ahead of the City of Mesa on a Climate Action Plan.

Opportunity knocked years ago in this initiative back in 2018...did Mayor Giles and the City of Mesa join in The Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge?

The winning cities are:

?

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DOES IT LOOK LIKE MESA - OR THE STATE OF ARIZONA - IS READY TO TAKE BOLD ACTION?

 

How do you write a climate action plan?

 

Developing a climate action plan is an iterative process that sets preliminary goals, evaluates specific measures, calculates financial impact, and then revises the goals.

1. Set Preliminary Goals. ...
2. Evaluate Specific Measures. ...
3. Determine Acceptable Financial Criteria. ...
4. Revise Goals.

 

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Meeting Name:

City Council Study Session

Agenda status:

Final

Meeting date/time:

6/17/2021 7:30 AM

ITEM 2-a CLIMATE ACTION PLAN

File #:

21-0704

Type:

Presentation

Status:

Agenda Ready

In control:

City Council Study Session

On agenda:

6/17/2021

Title:

Hear a presentation, discuss, and provide direction on the Climate Action Plan.

Attachments:

1. Presentation

You can find the streaming VOD here to watch it for yourself

REFERENCE: Here is the link > https://mesa.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx 

 

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READY FOR SOME VAGUE HAPPY-TALK ???

More

 

What is a Climate Action Plan?

The Climate Action Plan is our commitment to proactively and responsibly protect and conserve Mesa’s environment and natural resources. Through the Plan, we will implement mitigation and adaption strategies, implement intentional policy direction, and support the advancement of innovative technologies.

In the next phase of the Plan, we will work with community stakeholders, staff and a technical consultant to develop a collective vision on how we will make Mesa a more vibrant, prosperous, and thriving city for generations to come. 

What is Next in the process?
Now that the City has completed the first version of the Plan that identifies targets and strategies within City operations, community engagement is needed. Throughout the next year, we will be reaching out to the community, through online surveys, virtual and in-person meetings, and discussions with various boards and commissions to identify the community’s challenges and goals and prioritize local, viable strategies and actions. 

A Commitment to Equity

 "The city is committed to a climate action planning process, plan, and policy decisions that incorporate social equity and consider residents that are most vulnerable to climate change.

We are looking for community partners to help us engage with all members of our community in this planning process. Help us by sharing information and this website with your colleagues, neighbors, and local nonprofits.

If your group would like to help share information or provide recommendations on who should be included in this process, please let us know at Environ.Info@MesaAZ.gov. 

Upcoming Events & Timeline

Summer 2021

• Mayor & Council Climate Action Presentation: Thursday, June 17^th
• Climate Action Plan webpage and Healthy Environment Data Portal goes live

Beginning Fall 2021

• Climate Action Plan survey
• Engage with boards and commissions and members of the community
• Virtual and in-person community engagement meetings

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Here's the press release on Monday (same day at 6:28 p.m. as the meeting)

Mesa City Council accepts City of Mesa Climate Action Plan

June 21, 2021 at 6:28 pm

Link > https://www.mesanow.org/news/public/article/2764

Mesa, AZ - Mesa City Council voted to accept the City of Mesa Climate Action Plan at the City Council meeting held this evening. The plan represents the City's commitment to proactively and responsibly protect and conserve Mesa's environment and natural resources.

The goal of the Climate Action Plan is to lower the City of Mesa's climate impact, serve as a guide for sustainable growth and build resiliency by reducing carbon pollution in City operations.

Mesa will use the plan to 

> further study mitigation and adaptation strategies,

> implement intentional policy direction and

> support the advancement of innovative technologies. . .

The plan uses four Aspirational Goals that will guide the vision for the future:

1 Carbon Neutrality- Reduce the carbon footprint of City operations by 50% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing carbon sinks.

2 Renewable Energy- Prioritize the use of renewable, resilient energy to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050.

3 Materials Management- Manage material responsibly and divert 90% of waste from the landfill by 2050.

4 Community Action- Develop community-based action items to be incorporated into the Climate Action Plan.

City departments will focus on six areas to help to achieve progress towards the goals laid out in the plan.

The six focus areas are energy, air quality, heat mitigation, water stewardship, materials management and food systems. The City will work within these areas to create solutions with short-term and long-term benefits

For more information and to see a copy of the Climate Action Plan, visit www.mesaaz.gov/climateaction.

Contact: Casey Blake
(480) 644-3662
casey.blake@mesaaz.gov

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The City of San Diego had a Climate Action Plan in 2015

ith the goal of creating a cleaner San Diego for future generations, the City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan calls for eliminating half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the City and aims for all electricity used in the city to be from renewable sources by 2035. The Climate Action Plan is a package of policies that will benefit San Diego’s environment and economy.

It will help create new jobs in the renewable energy industry, improve public health and air quality, conserve water, more efficiently use existing resources, increase clean energy production, improve quality of life, and save taxpayer money. The plan identifies steps the City of San Diego can take to achieve the 2035 targets, including creating a renewable energy program, implementing a zero waste plan, and changing policy to have a majority of the City’s fleet be electric vehicles. The Climate Action Plan helps achieve the greenhouse gas reduction targets set forth by the State of California.

The City’s first Climate Action Plan was approved in 2005 and a commitment to update the plan was included in the City’s 2008 General Plan update

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