Olympia  urged to reduce emissions by 59% anew

Olympia’s Climate Program manager Dr. Pamela Braff repeated the need for the city council to update Olympia’s commitment to a climate change mitigation plan by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) to 59% - below 2019 levels - by 2030.

In a presentation at the city council meeting Tuesday, Braff said Olympia’s current GHG emissions reduction target 45% by 2030 and net-zero emission by 2040.

In a March 8 meeting, Braff discussed the need to reduce GHG emissions with the council.

Braff said Olympia City began working with Lacey, Tumwater, and Thurston County in 2018 to develop a regional climate mitigation plan.

The region adopted targets to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 45% - below 2015 levels – by 2030; and 85% by 2050.

Collaborating with Olympia high school students, the City Council passed a Youth Climate Inheritance resolution, which aims to protect the youth from the risks of climate destruction.

The city also committed to going beyond the regional targets and achieving a goal of net-zero emission by 2040, Braff said.

In November 2021, Olympia City joined the Cities Race to Zero campaign, a global movement to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions and investors for a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon transition for sustainable growth.

Braff said the campaign aims to build a decarbonized economy and inspire action from cities worldwide to cut emissions in half by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050 or sooner.

Why need to update?

“The simple answer here is that science has evolved. We know more now than we did a few years ago,” said Braff.

Braff added the original targets developed during the regional climate mitigation plan are no longer consistent with the action that is necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on global warming, Braff said “the window to limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius is rapidly closing.”

“Every fraction of a degree of global warming leads to more costly and dangerous impacts. The impacts are far greater than previously understood. The world must limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of 2030,” Braff said.

“Limiting warming to 1.5 degree Celsius offers a significant change to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change and irreversible impacts on Earth’s climate,” Braff quoted the IPCC report.

She informed the city council that there are available $1 million in philanthropic grants to community groups in Olympia.

Braff added the community groups may be eligible to receive it if the city adopts the 2030 Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which reflects Olympia’s "fair share" of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 59%, below 2019 levels.

Braff informed the city council that the ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA provides technical assistance to participating governments to develop a 2030 science-based target and identify high-impact actions necessary to achieve the target.