At the March 28 City Council meeting, City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Municipal Climate Action Plan (MCAP). The Municipal Climate Action Plan officially updates the City’s 2009 Sustainability Management Plan with updated and newly adopted resolutions around climate mitigation and adaptation. This plan supports City Council’s 2036 vision to create a clean and healthy environment and Council’s Fiscal Year 2022-2023 strategic priority to improve and expand core services.
This plan includes 22 recommended activities that range from existing ongoing projects, policies, plans and programs for municipal operations and establishes a roadmap for continued progress towards Council’s sustainability and climate goals. For each activity a description, operational resources required, funding needs, implementation timeline and activity type (climate adaptation or mitigation) are included.
The 22 activities are organized into three goals:
Goal 1: City-owned Assets are Resilient, Sustainable, and Efficient
Goal 2: Sustainability and Climate Priorities are Embedded In City Operations, Participation, and Decision Making
Goal 3: The City Supports Sustainability and Resilience for Area Residents and Businesses
How did we get here?
These 22 recommended activities were prioritized based on three factors that were developed by the Sustainability Advisory Committee. The three prioritization factors are impact, feasibility and opportunities to advance equity. The factors were applied to high impact opportunities that were gathered from existing plans, policies and ongoing activities as well as recommendations from staff, the Sustainability Advisory Committee and gathered through public comment at the Sustainability Advisory Committee meetings and in past engagement. All activities were scored by the consultant, AECOM, as an unbiased third party, as well as city staff from multiple departments.
Where do we go from here?
Implementation of the MCAP is already underway as four of the recommended activities are already in process.. Additional funding for the activities recommended in the MCAP will be considered during annual budget development processes in future fiscal years. New activities being considered for funding in the FY 2023-24 budget development process include a Solid Waste Master Plan and fleet maintenance that would support carbon reduction and fleet electrification goals.
Additionally, time was taken to sequence the implementation of each activity. Factors that impacted sequence of activities where: overall impact, time required for implementation, staff and resource capacity and current landscape of opportunities. Sequencing implementation of this plan allows the City to use the MCAP as a tool to assist in evaluating new opportunities and priorities as they arise.
To stay up to date on the implementation of the Municipal Climate Action Plan, please check in on the webpage.
For more information please contact Bridget Herring at bherring@ashevillenc.gov