This week, the City of San Diego unveiled the Climate Action Implementation Plan draft, safeguarding a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for San Diegans. This living planning tool guides the full implementation of the measures laid out in San Diego’s landmark 2022 Climate Action Plan (CAP) by clearly defining each City department’s responsibilities and providing cost estimates for those actions.

The Implementation Plan will also help guide and organize the City’s processes and governance structure around climate action with equity, accountability, and transparency at the center.

As part of the broader City program called “Our Climate, Our Future,” San Diego’s 2022 CAP includes six strategies that set a path toward achieving the City’s interim 2030 fair-share reduction goal and ambitious 2035 goal of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The strategies include 17 quantified performance targets, outlining how the City will track progress and achieve its overall GHG reduction goals. Each of the 21 CAP measures is broken down into discrete actions and supporting actions, including 190 in total, that work together to achieve targets and emissions reduction goals.

While the Implementation Plan does lay out a robust outline of future actions to be taken, much of the climate action work is already underway, including the rollout of citywide organic waste collection, transitioning all City electricity accounts to San Diego Community Power’s 100% renewable energy provider and drafting building code amendments to electrify new construction.

The Implementation Plan is just one part of a larger shift in City processes and decision-making to center climate action.

“It is a sea change in the Mayor and Council’s commitment to adopt an ambitious plan and implement the individual steps to achieve our goals and timelines,” said District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava, chair of the Environment Committee. “This Plan informs policies, ensures that climate action is part of every City department’s work plan, and it documents actions already underway. We can no longer delay ensuring our City’s future is sustainable and resilient. I invite the public’s input as the Environment Committee discusses the draft plan at our next meeting.”

Each action and supporting action included in the CAP will require funding and City staff resources. To plan for these budgetary and staffing needs, the Implementation Plan includes the results of a comprehensive Implementation Cost Analysis (ICA). The ICA estimates the funding and resources needed to be repurposed or added to implement the CAP over the next five fiscal years (FY2024-2028).

As identified in the ICA, existing programs account for 96% of the total cost estimate of $4.2 billion for the CAP. The remaining 4% represents incremental costs for new and expanded programs, which translates to about $30 million annually. Approximately 75% of that amount is estimated to cover currently known costs associated with local water supply, tree canopy, decarbonization of City facilities, and sequestration (the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide). For context, $30 million represents less than 1% of the City’s adopted FY2023 budget.

The concept of climate equity is critical throughout the CAP and the Implementation Plan connects directly to the principles outlined in the City’s Strategic Plan. During the preparation of the CAP, City staff worked closely with stakeholders to develop a method for scoring each action to understand its potential to prioritize and empower residents within Communities of Concern, and to address those disparities where the greatest needs exist.

In parallel with development of the Implementation Plan, the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst (IBA) has prepared Council Policy for Climate Action Plan Implementation Prioritization, which helps prioritize actions set forth in the CAP. The Council Policy reflects the metrics developed for each action and supporting action and assigns a weighted score to each measure. Details about the calculated prioritization scores are included in the tables in the Implementation Plan. Together, the Implementation Plan and Council Policy will inform the City’s ongoing annual work plans as well as budget and resource allocation decisions.

At the Environment Committee meeting on March 9, the Climate Action Implementation Plan draft will be presented by the Sustainability and Mobility Department, and the new Council Policy will be presented by the IBA.

“The City’s 2022 Climate Action Plan update laid out our ambitious goals, and this week, we released our comprehensive plan to fully implement them,” said Mayor Todd Gloria. “This Implementation Plan is just one part of a larger framework to ensure our climate goals are embedded in decisions across the City. We have a long way to go, but many steps are already complete or in progress.”

Photo by Thomas Melville