Minutes-11-02-2023-Business Meeting

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11 • To proportionally uphold the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 26-28 percent by 2025 from 2005 levels. • Transition to a 100% renewable energy-based economy by 2050. • Signatory to the Global Covenant of Mayors pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance resilience to climate change, and track progress transparently. As part of the County's on-going efforts to accelerate the mitigation of climate change, the County began a climate action planning process in November 2022 utilizing the professional services of Bluestrike Environmental Consulting to synthesize the work the County is already doing, to build upon the collaborative efforts and progress made with regional partners and the Towns, and to develop a suite of strategies, or"roadmap" for the County to follow to achieve its climate goals. Key elements of the CAP include an updated GHG inventory. The GHG inventory describes which sectors contribute the most GHG emissions in Orange County and helps gauge progress towards reducing these emissions compared to previous GHG inventories completed in 2005 and 2017. The results of the GHG inventory have helped prioritize Climate Action Plan strategies based on which measures will have the most impact on reducing GHG emissions. Other key components of the plan include a robust community/stakeholder engagement process that has helped shape specific climate action strategies. The plan also includes methodology for implementation, evaluation and updating. In addition, Bluestrike has prepared a comprehensive funding plan linked to climate action plan strategies, and designed a climate action plan dashboard that will display progress related to the plan's implementation on the County's website. The draft Climate Action Plan was presented to the Board of County Commissioners at the September 5, 2023 Business meeting. Comments were received from Board members and incorporated into the final Climate Action Plan. The draft Climate Action Plan was also presented at a community symposium event in early September and a month-long public comment period was established to receive feedback through an on-line forum. Based on community feedback received, adjustments were made to several action items in the draft Climate Action Plan that was presented to the Board on September 5, 2023. Some key updates include: • Added the newly announced American Climate Corps program in the CAP as a way to involve more youth directly with CAP actions; • Moved up the study date for curbside composting due to strong community support. This action was seen as a "gateway" action that can drive community interest and understanding in climate action; • Included several new actions prioritizing conservation of green spaces, preventing urban sprawl, and promoting sustainable land use; • Added action to develop a mechanism for the community to donate to the Community Climate Action Grant Program to expand capacity to fund community climate action projects; • Added action to promote safety and purposeful connection of existing and future bike trails and bike lanes that promote sustainable travel and connectivity. The Commission for the Environment also reviewed the draft CAP and provided extensive feedback to improve actions, graphs, and made refinements to wording which has been incorporated into the final CAP.