Tuesday, Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Director of the Office of Sustainability, Lisa McNeilly, announced an updated set of goals for Baltimore City’s Climate Action Plan.
At the direction of Mayor Scott, the City has set a series of targets to achieve 100% carbon neutrality by 2045. The Scott administration is aiming for a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2025, a 60% reduction in emissions by 2030, and full carbon neutrality – or 100% reduction in net emissions – by 2045.
“From the start of my administration, I have made it clear that sustainability and improving the lives of all residents is a priority,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “Ensuring that Baltimore is carbon neutral by the earliest possible date is a key part of my administration’s work to build Clean and Healthy Communities. Our young people deserve the chance to grow up and enjoy everything that our city and our planet have to offer.”
Mayor Scott also said on Twitter, “By 2045 Baltimore will be a carbon neutral city. This is about making sure that our young people have the chance to grow up in clean and healthy communities so that they can enjoy everything our beautiful planet has to offer.”
“Among our city’s challenges is the urgent need to respond to the climate emergency and chart a path for Baltimore toward reducing our greenhouse gas emissions while also working to adapt to existing threats, such as extreme heat and flooding,” said Lisa McNeilly, Director of the Office of Sustainability. “We are being proactive and updating Baltimore’s carbon neutrality goals to pave the way for us to tackle climate change head on.”
According to a Baltimore City press release:
The 2019 Sustainability Plan set a city-wide climate goal – 25% reduction by 2020 and 30% by 2025 relative to 2007 – and called for a commitment to become a “Carbon Neutral City.” As of 2017, the City had reduced emissions by 13% and anticipates seeing a reduction of 15-20% for 2020.
The Office of Sustainability is launching a two-year process to update the Climate Action Plan – including a community engagement process running through October 2022.
The community engagement process will inform the work of the Office of Sustainability to ensure that the process is done equitably and that all stakeholders – residents included – are in agreement on how best to attain ‘carbon neutrality.’
