At its August 10 meeting, the Irvine City Council unanimously adopted a climate resolution, addressing climate change in Irvine’s environment, values, and energy resources; the Irvine ACHIEVES resolution. The resolution sets climate goals for the City and includes key stakeholder and community input.
On June 22, the City Council directed staff to award a contract for professional services to Ascent Environmental, Inc. to develop a comprehensive Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) for the City of Irvine. To help guide the development of the CAAP, the City’s Green Ribbon Environmental Committee prepared the Irvine ACHIEVES resolution to address climate change in Irvine.
City staff partnered with community stakeholders to prepare the climate resolution for City Council consideration. Additionally, to further facilitate climate action measures, the City Council authorized staff to apply for the Cool City Challenge to seek funding and technical support that will help the City in developing and implementing its climate plan.
“It's great timing for Irvine to show support for climate action, and how that aligns with scientific assessments,” said Mayor Farrah N. Khan. “With the adoption of the climate resolution, we are the third city in California to set the 2030 climate target and work toward averting climate catastrophe.”
California’s long-term goal is to become carbon neutral by 2045. Given the severity of climate impacts locally and across the globe, Governor Newsom has called for the state to expedite carbon neutrality by 10 years. The California Air Resources Board and the California Public Utilities Commission are now exploring pathways to reach carbon neutrality statewide by 2035, and accelerate the 2030 clean energy goals for the electricity grid. The City’s climate plan will identify options to realize aggressive climate goals, and staff will work with the community to develop an achievable path to realize emission reduction targets by 2030.
For more information about the City’s climate planning efforts and the Irvine ACHIEVES climate resolution, please visit cityofirvine.org/climate.