SACRAMENTO CLIMATE ACTION & Adaptation PLAN
The City of Sacramento’s Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) is a crucial step in the City’s long-standing efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change effects. Sacramento’s first community Climate Action Plan (CAP), adopted in 2012, was a stand-alone document that was intended to guide City efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. In 2015 the CAP was incorporated into the 2035 General Plan.
The City of Sacramento is currently preparing the Sacramento Climate Action & Adaptation Plan, in tandem with the 2040 General Plan Update process. The full Draft Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) and Draft 2040 General Plan were released on April 28, 2023 for public review. An online workshop, which was opened as a platform for public input with the release of these documents, will remain open through the full public review period.
Draft General Plan and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan Available for Public Comment
Self-Guided Online Workshop
The Draft 2040 General Plan and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan are now available for public review via the Self-Guided Online Workshop from April 28 through August 23, 2023.
Sacramento 2040 Links
PDFs to the full Draft 2040 General Plan and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan are provided below.
Interactive land use maps to support review of these documents are provided below:
Draft Master Environmental Impact Report Available for Public Review
The Draft Master Environmental Impact Report is now available for public review. Review period is open from August 24-October 10, 2024. To review this document, please click here.
Written comments on the Draft MEIR or questions concerning the environmental review process should be submitted to: MEIR@cityofsacramento.org
Or mailed to:
Scott Johnson, Senior Planner
City of Sacramento, Community Development Department
300 Richards Boulevard, 3rd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 808-5842
Important Dates
- August 23: Staff is requesting public comment on the Draft General Plan and Draft Climate Action & Adaptation Plan by August 23, 2023.
- August 24: The Draft Master Environmental Impact Report is released for public review on August 24, 2023.
- October 10: The comment period for the Draft General Plan, Climate Action & Adaptation Plan, and Master Environmental Impact Report ends October 10, 2023.
WEBINARS
Learn more about how to provide your input via our online workshop! The three webinars include the same presentation by the City team, with different discussion and questions provided by the participants at each webinar.
To view webinar presentation slides, please click here.
To view the Webinar Summary, please click here.
Greenhouse gas emissions in Sacramento
Periodically, the City of Sacramento conducts an inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by the Sacramento community to track progress towards climate action goals. The GHG inventories count emissions from residential and commercial electricity and natural gas usage; transportation emissions from vehicles, electricity used for water delivery, and GHG’s from wastewater treatment and solid waste decomposition and transport within City limits.
Inventories from 2005, 2011, and 2016 demonstrate a steady reduction in GHG emissions over time, including the achievement of the City’s 2020 target to reduce GHG emissions 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, as shown below.
Historic GHG Emissions by Year and Source (MTCO2e )
The City of Sacramento met its 2020 climate goal in 2016. Between 2005 and 2016, community wide emissions decreased from 4,235,000 metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) to 3,424,700 MT CO2e - a reduction of over 19%. Per capita emissions have decreased over 26% demonstrating that even though the city has grown substantially since 2005, emissions have decreased at a more rapid rate.
Per Capita GHG Emissions over Time
The draft CAAP includes the following GHG reduction targets:
2030 CLIMATE ACTION TARGET: Reduce Sacramento’s per capita GHG emissions to 3.63 MT CO2e per person by 2030, equal to 63 percent below 1990 levels. In mass emissions, this equates to reducing emissions to less than 2,200,000 MT CO2e in 2030.
2045 CLIMATE ACTION GOAL: Reduce Sacramento’s per capita GHG emissions to net zero MT CO2e per person by 2045, equal to 100 percent below 1990 levels.
The CAAP will meet the criteria for a "qualified GHG reduction plan, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)." Essentially, this means that the plan 1) Quantifies existing and projected GHG emission within the plan area; 2) Establishes a reduction target based on substantial evidence, below which emissions would not be cumulatively considerable, such as SB 32; 3) Identifies and analyzes sector-specific GHG emissions from plan activities; 4) Specifies policies and actions (measures) that Sacramento will enact and implement over time to achieve the specific reduction target ; 5) Establishes a tool to monitor progress and amend the plan if necessary, and 6) Adopt the plan in a public process following environmental review.
As a qualified greenhouse gas reduction plan, the CAAP will provide important CEQA streamlining benefits for infill development. By adopting a qualified GHG reduction plan, the City will provide new construction with a viable pathway through CEQA and ensure that new development will meet the long-term goals of the City, consistent with the General Plan, in a cost-effective manner.
outreach
The development of the CAAP was driven by community input at various levels through multiple years of outreach and engagement which was conducted as part of the Sacramento 2040 process, which includes the General Plan Update and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan. Community engagement by the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change was conducted in a parallel process, which has also helped to shape the CAAP.
In order to reach a wide audience from all parts of Sacramento’s diverse community, the City employed a suite of outreach and engagement strategies. These included multiple iterations of in person workshops, pop-up events, working groups, virtual workshops, and a scientific survey. Of these many and varied events, the primary outreach events which provided feedback specific to the CAAP were the citywide workshops, youth engagement and workshops, an environmental justice working group, interest-based focus groups, and a scientific survey.
A central tenet of the CAAP is to ensure that implementation does not result in unintended costs for under-resourced communities and that co-benefits are equitable and distributed throughout the community. GHG reduction measures were evaluated for equity impacts by the 2040 General Plan Environmental Justice Working Group.
The Community Development Department and the City’s Office of Climate Action and Sustainability are already implementing key greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction measures from the forthcoming CAAP. The Office of Climate Action and Sustainability provides quarterly climate updates to City Council. Information about past updates can be found HERE.
Documents
Connect with Us
Contact staff:
caap@cityofsacramento.org
Sign up to receive updates from the Office of Climate Action and Sustainability
Sign up to receive updates on the Sacramento 2040 General Plan and Climate Action Plan Update
Other Resources
Want to get more informed about climate change? Here are some resources to check out!
City of Sacramento Climate Action Initiatives
The City is actively implementing a number of priority projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for climate impacts. Learn more about City efforts and the work of the Office of Climate and Sustainability and other City departments at cityofsacramento.org/climateaction.
Mayor's Commission on Climate Change Final Report
In June 2020, the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change completed a two-year effort and issued a comprehensive final report with recommendations on how the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento can achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.The report includes carbon-zero strategies and recommendations for the built environment, mobility, and community health and resiliency.
The Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative (CRCRC) is a multidisciplinary network of local and regional agencies, organizations, businesses and associations working together to advance climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in their own communities and throughout California’s Capital Region. Sign up for their newsletter to stay up to date on recent news, science, and initiatives happening in your community and across California.
California’s Climate Change Assessments contribute to the scientific foundation for understanding climate-related vulnerability at the local scale and informing resilience actions, while also directly informing State policies, plans, programs, and guidance, to promote effective and integrated action to safeguard California from climate change. (Hot tip: Check out the Statewide Summary Report and the Sacramento Valley Regional Report!). Work has begun on California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment.
Explore the Cal-Adapt tool to see how different climate change-related impacts will affect our community. Cal-Adapt uses science from the most recent California Climate Change Assessment to produce map-based tools and downloadable data sheets in a variety of forms.
The National Climate Assessment assesses the science of climate change and variability and its impact across the United States, now and throughout this century.