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Climate Action Planning
The City of Charlottesville has begun developing a Climate Action Plan. Reflecting community comments and discussion over the last several years, this effort is being led under the brand of Charlottesville Acting on Climate Together.
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Community events and input opportunities will be posted here as they are scheduled. Meeting recordings and available follow-on materials will be posted following the events.
Equity in Climate Action - February 8, 2021
The City of Charlottesville has committed to including Equity as part of its Climate Action Plan and has partnered with the University of Virginia’s Institute for Engagement & Negotiation (IEN) to conduct this important conversation on equity for the City’s Climate Action Plan. This conversation around equity will be an integral part of the overarching discussions for all the community engagement efforts. In addition, we hope a separate continuous group will form to assist the City through the longer-term planning process.
We would like to have a diversity of community voices contribute to the conversation about how to ensure that the City’s Climate Action Plan represents our goals for climate equity. In addition to direct invitations that have been sent out, community members are invited to participate in this first important Equity in Climate Action conversation for the City of Charlottesville.
This Equity Conversation will be Monday, February 8 beginning at 4 pm and lasting until 6 pm. This meeting will be virtual via Zoom. Please RSVP if you would like to attend to Harrison Premen at hbp8c@virginia.edu to receive the Zoom link and agenda.
Community Workshop (Virtual & Recorded) - December 14 and 15, 2020
Watch the Workshop Recording (the December 14th session)
Provide feedback and responses via the Post-Workshop Input Form
Description
As the first workshop in support of the City developing a Climate Action Plan, this workshop includes an introduction to Charlottesville's greenhouse gas (GHG) emission sources, examples of climate action strategies from other communities, some high-level example scenarios for meeting Charlottesville's GHG emission reduction targets, as well as an overview of the Climate Action Plan development process.
Workshop Recording & Schedule
To help increase community access, the workshop was offered twice with a recording and links to feedback materials posted here after the event.
The workshop was divided into four 30-minute sections, each including opportunity for questions and answers. Community members can "tune in" live or on the recording to specific segments:
- 00:00 - 00:30 Introduction and Overview of the Plan Development Process, Charlottesville's Emissions, and Example Climate Action Strategies
- 00:30 - 01:00 Stationary Sources of Emissions (Buildings' Energy Use - Residential, Commercial)
- 01:00 - 01:30 Renewable Energy
- 01:30 - 02:00 Transportation
The City of Charlottesville has committed to developing a Climate Action Plan (CAP) aimed to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals of 45% by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. The structure for the CAP will borrow from a strategic plan framework in order to prioritize actions to meet the 2030 goal and position Charlottesville to achieve its 2050 goal.
Community engagement is a critical part of the CAP process, although delays due to Covid-19 have put it on a fast-tracked timeline. The City has adopted a multi-layer engagement approach involving a climate action liaison committee, core topic teams, open community discussion and input opportunities, and small group stakeholder engagement sessions. This structure is intended to leverage technical expertise, local knowledge, existing partnerships, and support within the community.
The climate action plan development will be informed by concurrent layers of community engagement:
- Virtual meetings and online questionnaires - open to the public
- Climate Action Liaison Committee - City management and regional planning partners
- Core Topic Teams - City staff, institutional partners, and members of the public that serve on City boards/committees/commissions
- Equity workshop and workgroup
- Small group stakeholder discussions on specific areas of expertise, experience, or perspective
- Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Properties
- Environmental and Climate
- Businesses
- Funding and Financing
Developing a Climate Action Plan
Following the adoption of a greenhouse gas reduction target on July 1, 2019, the City of Charlottesville will develop a climate action plan for greenhouse gas reductions followed by a climate hazard risk assessment and climate resiliency/adaptation planning process. These efforts support the City's Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy commitment:
City Council Direction
City Council passed resolutions on May 6, 2019 (PDF) and July 1, 2019 (PDF) directing that the Climate Action Plan be developed pursuant to the adopted reduction goal and include the following aspects:
- Address Equity Specifically in Goals and the Climate Action Plan
- Addresses Funding and Financing Options to Enable and Support Private Sector Action
- Identify Measurement Frequency and Accountability Mechanisms
- Identify of Sub-Goals by Sector and by Strategy in the Climate Action Plan
- Front Load Reductions - pursue steeper reductions in the near term
Additional Strategies
Additionally, the Climate Action Plan will include, but not be limited to, strategies that address:
- Further enabling private financial sector investment in energy performance upgrades for commercial properties in the City of Charlottesville through adoption of a commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) financing program; and
- Effective funding programs and models for increased residential energy performance, including programs that are compatible with affordable housing and owner or renter-occupied housing; and
- The feasibility of integrating zero emission vehicles into the municipal fleet and supporting increased community adoption of zero emission vehicles; and
- Working in conjunction with regional partners to implement seamless programs and services to increase ease of participation for Charlottesville organizations and residents.
Timeline
The City of Charlottesville committed to developing a Climate Action Plan as part of its Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy commitment in 2017. Community engagement to develop a Climate Action Plan was planned to begin in the Spring of 2020. Formal engagement activities were delayed due to the coronavirus response. Planning for an adjusted community engagement process began in August/September with the process framework being shared with the public in October, including a process briefing at the October 19, 2020 City Council Meeting. Formation of the Core Topic Teams and the Climate Action Plan Liaison Committee, as well as preparation for facilitated stakeholder discussions and other engagement activities were underway in November and continue to be developed. The City is looking to complete a substantial portion of community engagement by Spring 2021.
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Climate Action Plan Process Update to City Council
Two items related to Climate Action are on the City Council meeting agenda for Tuesday, January 19th: an update on the climate action plan development process and a resolution in support of a proposed bill for the 2021 General Assembly session. Read on... -
Climate Action Plan Materials and Resources Now Available
New materials for the City's Climate Action Plan development are now available online! Find the Community Workshop recording and an online form to provide feedback or response to the Workshop on the City's Climate Action Plan webpage. Read on... -
Announcing: Community Workshop - Dec 14 and Dec 15
The City of Charlottesville is developing a Climate Action Plan (CAP) aimed to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals. Community engagement is a critical part of this process. Join us for the first community workshop! Read on... -
Climate Action Plan Process Briefing at City Council Meeting
The October 19th City Council meeting included a briefing on the upcoming Climate Action Plan development process for community engagement. Agenda item and link to the video recording are available online & more detailed information is forthcoming. Read on... -
Charlottesville Adopted New GHG Reduction Goals
On July 1, 2019, City of Charlottesville's City Council adopted new greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals informed by community input and the challenge posed by climate change, including the recent IPCC report. The new goals aim to achieve a 45% reduction Read on... -
Draft GHG Goals Open for Public Comment
At City Council's May 6, 2019 meeting, a compilation of community comments and input were presented along with draft greenhouse gas reduction goals. Community input was used to inform support for this level of commitment and to begin informing direction Read on... -
Charlottesville Recommits to Climate Action
City Council passed a resolution on June 19, 2017 as its "Response to the Announced US Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement". The resolution indicates continued commitment on behalf of Charlottesville to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and Read on...