City of Novato, CA
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What is a Climate Action Plan?
A climate action plan (CAP) is a comprehensive, strategic framework for planning, measuring, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and serves as a roadmap to implement climate change-related policies, programs, and projects at the local level.
CAPs generally include an inventory of existing emissions, GHG emission reduction goals or targets, analyzed and prioritized emissions reduction actions, and an implementation strategy that identifies required resources and funding mechanisms.
CAPs are important tools for making informed decisions and understanding when, where, and how to achieve the greatest emissions reductions in the most cost-effective manner.
While most CAPs focus on ‘mitigating’ or preventing climate change, some CAPS also include strategies to ‘adapt’ to the changes to our climate that are already happening, such as extreme heat, sea level rise, drought, etc.
Why is Novato Updating its Climate Action Plan?
As part of the City’s general plan update (which commenced in 2013), the GHG emissions reduction measures from the City's 2009 Climate Change Action Plan (plus two additional measures) were embedded into the draft General Plan 2035. General Plan 2035 was adopted by the City Council in 2020, and currently serves as the City’s Climate Action Plan. GHG emissions reduction measures can be found at Appendix E.
In order to allow for more regular updates to the City's climate goals, policies, and programs (and avoid triggering a general plan amendment), in July 2023, the City initiated the process of developing a stand-alone Climate Action Plan.
Gretchen Schubeck, Sustainability Coordinator
sustainability@novato.org
415.899.8950
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