HomeMy WebLinkAbout1300 - ENDORSING THE COMMITMENT TO ACHIEVING NEW CLIMATE GOALS FOR THE COMMUNITY, INCLUDING AGGRESSIVE AND EQUITABLE CLIMATE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION MEASURESRESOLUTION 1300
A RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE COMMITMENT TO ACHIEVING NEW
CLIMATE GOALS FOR THE COMMUNITY, INCLUDING AGGRESSIVE AND
EQUITABLE CLIMATE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION MEASURES
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BOULDER, COLORADO, FINDS AND
RECITES THAT:
WHEREAS, on August 7, 2021, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) released the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on the physical science basis of
climate change, conveying that it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the
atmosphere, ocean and land and that human-induced climate change is already affecting many
weather and climate extremes in all regions across the globe; and
WHEREAS, under all emissions scenarios outlined in the IPCC report, the earth’s
surface warming will continue until at least 2050 and is projected to exceed 1.5°C in the next
two decades. After 2030, discernable differences in global temperature impacts will depend on
human ability to act on emission reductions. Without immediate steep emissions cuts, average
temperatures could rise past 2°C by mid-century; and
WHEREAS, weather extremes once considered rare or unprecedented are becoming
more common — a trend that will continue even if the world limits global warming to 1.5°C;
and
WHEREAS, there is an increasingly urgent need to prepare for significant climate
change disruptions to come while addressing the inequities that climate change perpetuates by
considering adaptation (resilience) and equity as integral elements in all climate action; and
WHEREAS, given the near-linear relationship between human caused carbon emissions
in the atmosphere and rising global temperatures, limiting global warming to 1.5°C by the end of
the century is still within reach, but requires transformational change; and
WHEREAS, the United Nations report states that global emissions must be kept within a
budget of 500 Gigatons of CO2 for a 50 percent chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C or 400
GtCO2 for a 66 percent “likely” chance. Staying within a carbon budget of 500 GtCO2 implies
that global CO2 emissions reach carbon neutrality by 2050, reduced to 2040 for a 400 GtCO2
carbon budget; and
WHEREAS, in November 2020, the Science Based Targets Network released guidance
for cities indicating that the global community must reduce global emissions in alignment with
the IPCC report to avoid catastrophic levels of warming, with cities encouraged to integrate
equity considerations in the science-based target setting calculations, using a city’s Human
Development Index score to determine their “fair share” of emission reductions; and
WHEREAS, the City of Boulder has a high responsibility for historical CO2
accumulation compared to the global average (with 18.7 MTCO2/capita in 2005, 13.7
MTCO2/capita in 2019 compared to the global annual average of 4.8 MTCO2/capita); and
WHEREAS, the City of Boulder has a high economic capacity to act on climate given a
GDP growth rate in the top quintile and ranked 4th for economic health out of hundreds of cities;
and
WHEREAS, the City of Boulder has high political capacity to address climate change
with a highly engaged community, a history of climate action, and as the first city with a voter-
approved tax to address climate and should therefore do everything in its power to reach the
scientific recommended targets at an expedited pace; and
WHEREAS, in May 2021, the City of Boulder joined the Local Governments for
Sustainability (ICLEI) Race to Zero global campaign wherein pledgees agreed to reach net zero
greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and by 2050 at the latest, with an interim 2030
target that reflects maximum effort toward or beyond their fair share of 50 percent CO2
reductions by 2030; and
WHEREAS, Boulder recognized that cities cannot achieve the scale of emissions
reduction called for without larger society-scale/systems-scale shifts; and
WHEREAS, humanity can no longer safely emit greenhouse gasses and must rapidly
reach zero emissions across all sectors in addition to safely removing excess carbon from the
atmosphere; must preserve and restore the Earth’s biodiversity; must implement safety measures
to protect all people and species from the consequences of abrupt warming in the near-term; and
must cultivate a shift toward climate resiliency that prioritizes equity, community, conservation,
and independence from fossil fuels; and
WHEREAS, building a society that is resilient to the current, expected, and potentially
exponential effects of climate change will protect health, lives, ecosystems, and economies, and
such resilience efforts will have positive impact even when the most dramatic potential
consequences of climate change are taken into account; and
WHEREAS, justice means that climate resilience efforts must simultaneously address
the specific experiences, vulnerabilities and needs of marginalized communities within and
outside of our jurisdiction, and these members of our community must be centered, included, and
supported in actively engaging in climate resilience planning, policy, and actions.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF BOULDER AS FOLLOWS:
1. The City of Boulder hereby declares that we commit to working towards achievement of
the following climate goals: reducing emissions 70 percent by 2030 from a 2018 baseline,
become a Net Zero city by 2035, and becoming a Carbon-Positive city by 2040 – doing
so through a systems-based climate action framework;
2. In pursuit of achieving these ambitious goals, the city remains committed to reaching the
community’s numerous quantitative and qualitative targets embedded across our energy,
regenerative ecosystems, circular materials economy, land use, and financial systems
work; including those associated with becoming a zero-waste city by 2025 and obtaining
a 100% renewable electricity supply by 2030.
3. The City of Boulder commits to take immediate actions to safeguard against the current,
inevitable and potential consequences of climate change and to invite the full
participation of all communities in equitable climate resilience efforts, including
centering those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change;
4. The City of Boulder commits to expand its focus on actions that extend action beyond
municipal boundaries to optimize impact and that have the greatest potential to change
incumbent systems;
5. The City of Boulder commits to seeking system-scale changes and greater understanding
of the drivers that must be addressed to create transformational climate action.
Redesigning societal systems will require foundational changes that must be driven by
law and policy, reinforced by market mechanisms, enabled by new knowledge and
technology, and sustained by social and cultural norms that support these changes;
6. The City of Boulder commits to reworking our greenhouse gas inventory methodology to
account for carbon sequestration of our urban trees and forests, as well as to take
responsibility for our consumption-based emissions. Emissions associated with goods and
services, and emissions caused by land and ecosystem degradation are factors that have
been significantly under-represented in the conventional methods of accounting for
greenhouse gas emissions — including Boulder’s current emission accounting
framework;
7. The City of Boulder commits to preparing our community for the significant climate
change disruptions to come and to address the inequities that climate change perpetuates.
Adaptation (resilience) and equity will now be considered integral elements in all climate
action. The future of our residents will be fundamentally shaped by the increasing
frequency and intensity of disruptions escalated by climate change. As the primary
provider of local public services, the City of Boulder will turn an increasing amount of
attention and resources towards addressing climate change impacts. At the same time,
climate change disproportionately affects those who are both least responsible and most
vulnerable to its impacts. All climate actions - both mitigation and adaptation/resilience -
must now also integrate considerations to address these intrinsic, structural inequities;
and
8. That the city manager is directed to send a copy of this Resolution to the city’s
congressional and state legislative delegations.
ADOPTED this 26th day of October 2021.
__________________________________
Sam Weaver, Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
Elesha Johnson, City Clerk