The Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department (ARA) recommends that City Council approve a resolution supporting the Houston Climate Action Plan (CAP) as the basis for the goals, strategies, actions, and policies to be used by the city of Houston to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the associated climatic impacts.
The Houston Climate Action Plan (CAP) – released on April 22, 2020 – is a science-based, community-driven strategy for the City of Houston to reduce GHG emissions, meet the Paris Agreement goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and lead a global energy transition.
The City is already seeing increased rainfall from hurricanes and other flood events that have caused extensive damage and disruption. Without any action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the City can expect greater severity and occurrences of extreme events like heat waves, floods, and droughts. As the City continues to grow, the associated GHG emissions that cause the atmosphere to warm are also expected to grow. The CAP is a critical part of Mayor Turner’s Hurricane Harvey recovery effort and builds upon Resilient Houston, the City’s recently released resilience strategy, which identified climate change as a key threat to the City’s future.
Reducing Houston’s emissions and leading a global energy transition is a community-wide effort and will require action from residents and the business community. The City of Houston’s Office of Sustainability consulted with community stakeholders, students, businesses, non-profits, Houston’s academic institutions, environmental experts, and the energy sector for over a year to ensure the plan had buy-in from the community and was viewed as both ambitious and achievable. The CAP focuses on reducing emissions in the four areas – Transportation, Energy Transition, Building Optimization, and Materials Management – which generate most of the region’s GHG emissions. Each focus area identifies goals, strategies, actions and targets for residents, businesses, and the City to follow.
Departmental Approval Authority:
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Tina Paez, Director Other Authorization
Administration & Regulatory
Affairs Department