We’re Not Doing Enough
Charlottesville’s Gudrun Campbell at the Youth Climate Strike in 2019
New IPCC Report Emphasizes Need for Urgent Action to Reduce Emissions
“The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future,” said Hans-Otto Pörtner, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II Co-Chair.
The impacts of climate change are mounting, and we are not moving quickly enough to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which intensify climate change, according to the latest report from the IPCC. Though the report is global in scope, it emphasizes the crucial role that cities play in mitigating climate change.
Cities house more than half of the world’s population and are hotspots for the impacts of climate change. That’s especially true in Virginia, where 88% of the population lives in urban and suburban areas. According to Debra Roberts, IPCC Working Group II Co-Chair, “Cities (...) provide opportunities for climate action – green buildings, reliable supplies of clean water and renewable energy, and sustainable transport systems that connect urban and rural areas can all lead to a more inclusive, fairer society.”
At the Community Climate Collaborative (C3), we focus on exactly that: accelerating climate action at the local level.
How are we doing here?
There is certainly progress to celebrate. Albemarle County set ambitious climate goals, passed the Phase 1 of its Climate Action Plan, updated its GHG inventory, and is actively working on implementation, including funding increases for energy efficiency programs, advancing solar on schools, and adding micro-transit services. While we are moving in the right direction, more must be done including setting aggressive targets for reductions, removing barriers to solar in entrance corridors, and ensuring that recent transit plans actually lead to lower transportation emissions.
Albemarle County isn’t acting alone. The broader community has also responded to the call for swift action to reduce emissions. Sixteen locally headquartered businesses in C3’s Green Business Alliance have committed to reduce their collective emissions by 45% by 2025. Twenty nonprofit and for-profit organizations are working together to advocate for Accessible, Clean Transportation — a critical component of reaching carbon neutrality. Hundreds of households have taken individual action to increase energy efficiency, electrify transportation, and add solar energy.
What about Charlottesville?
While first out of the gate to set a leadership-level GHG reduction goal, the City of Charlottesville has fallen far behind. This July will mark three years since Charlottesville set its sights on climate leadership. Three years, and we have no Climate Action Plan, our GHG emissions inventory is four years out-of-date, and the window to reduce emissions to prevent catastrophic impacts is rapidly closing.
Charlottesville continues to fund energy efficiency programs and is researching the community’s vulnerability to climate change, but developments in the emissions reduction component of its Climate Action Plan have stopped after starting more than once with no clear timeline for commencement or completion.
The rapid reduction of emissions should be our number one priority on climate. Every year of inaction contributes to the acceleration of global warming, ignores science, and is an abdication of our responsibility to vulnerable populations worldwide and increasingly to global security. So far, we at C3 see little evidence that the City is prioritizing action. The community deserves an update and a deadline for the completion of the Climate Action Plan. Right now, we are not doing enough.
In the wake of this amplified global call to action, we must bring climate action home. Council needs to hear from you that GHG emissions reductions must be the highest priority on climate. Send them an email to encourage action. We still have time to reach our goals, but we must start moving faster.