Analysis of the Intended Implementation Strategies of Municipal Climate Action Plans

In the United States, many cities have adopted Climate Action Plans (CAPs) to outline strategies to achieve emissions reduction targets. This research focuses on analyzing gaps, strengths, and weaknesses of the actions included in municipal climate action plans to achieve carbon reduction targets for better planning and to inform future research on municipal climate action plans? To answer these questions, I evaluate actions proposed in eight municipal CAPs within five critical areas (land use and the built environment, transportation, energy consumption and management, waste management, and resource management) according to six implementation parameters (conceptualization of the relationship between a given action area and its climate change mitigation goals, identification of policy or planning actions, identification of partners and parties responsible for implementation, identification of financial information, assignment of an implementation timeline, and assignment of a goal or emissions target tied to the planning actions at hand). There continue to be gaps in the actions cities intend to pursue to mitigate their emissions and what they need to do to achieve their ambitious targets. The plans examined demonstrate a good understanding of the role cities are already playing and can play in the future, but most fall short in establishing accountability for implementation and developing simple pathways to pursue. Future planning efforts should attempt to improve in areas of author accountability, identifying costs and funding, employing consumption-based rather than production-based inventories, and setting implementation timelines and monitoring frameworks. Future research should consider whether municipal budgets consider these actions and plans in their processes and in situations where climate mitigation is included in budgeting processes, whether there are outcomes in line with intended goals.

Author dc:creator

• Mathurin, Zachary

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Grover, Himanshu

• climate action plan
• climate change
• plan evaluation
• Urban planning

Statement dc:rights

• none

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1773/44936

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/44936