Resources

Use the following resources to learn more about climate action at the local level.

PCA’s Climate Action Priorities for Cities Workbook brings together information from many sources that describe potential actions that cities can take to reduce emissions. It is designed to help local cities build and strengthen their Climate Action Plans.
To request a copy of the workbook, please email workbook@peopleforclimateaction.org.

Check out these resources from PCA events:

Resources from Cities Climate Action Webinar: Setting Effective Priorities, Plus Two Case Studies held online on February 27, 2021.
Slide decks and recording from Cities Climate Action Webinar: Tackling the Biggest GHG Impacts held online on February 20, 2021.
Slide decks and recording from Cities Climate Action Webinar: Focus on Buildings held online on May 2, 2020.
Slide decks and video from Cities Climate Summit II held on May 11, 2019 on Mercer Island.
Cities Climate Summit Slide deck (25Mb) held on November 17, 2018 in Kirkland.

The Carbon-Free City Handbook is an outstanding guide from the Rocky Mountain Institute (Nov 2017).
Portland, OR’s Climate Action Plan lists over 150 actions and indicates the relative carbon-reducing potential of the actions, along with flagging actions that can improve other environmental issues, the economy, health, and/or equity.
Translating Climate Science Into Action, a blog post from C40 Cities that describes a couple of reports including For Cities By Cities: Key Takeaways for City Decision Makers from the IPCC 1.5°C Report. C40 Cities is a worldwide network of cities taking climate action and sharing information to increase the knowledge available to all cities.
C40 Mayors Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery: a list of measures from mayors of C40 cities around the globe, focused on creating green jobs, investing in crucial public services, protecting mass transit, supporting essential workers, and giving public spaces back to people and nature. C40 Cities is a worldwide network of cities taking climate action.

Along with transportation, the building sector is one of the major sources of climate emissions in cities.

Achieving Zero: a framework for phasing out CO2 emissions in the urban built environment by mid-century. Includes a framework for accelerating energy upgrades in existing buildings.
Shift Zero: the Zero Net Carbon Building Alliance.
Carbon Smart Building: includes information and tools for choosing carbon smart building materials.
Architecture 2030, whose mission is “to rapidly transform the built environment from the major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions to a central solution to the climate crisis.”
Urban Green Council is an nonprofit organization committed to transforming buildings for a sustainable future in New York City and around the world.
New York City’s Climate Mobilization Act is a revolutionary set of laws aimed at increasing green roofs and energy efficiency in buildings. The laws also offer helpful pathways for financing building efficiency upgrades.
Berkeley’s Building Emissions Saving Ordinance (BESO), which requires energy assessments on buildings in Berkeley.
Factsheet on Berkeley’s electrification requirements for new buildings, describing Berkeley’s Natural Gas Prohibition ordinance and the related Reach Code for Electrification, which work together, requiring new buildings to use electricity (not gas) as an energy source.

Along with buildings, the transportation sector is one of the major sources of climate emissions in cities.

Transportation and Mobility section of the Carbon-Free City Handbook: describes seven categories of action that cities can take to reduce emissions from the transportation sector.
The myth of electric cars: Why we also need to focus on buses and trains, by Alexandre Milovanoff (article in The Conversation).