Cleveland’s next climate action plan proposes stringent emission reductions, but the city is looking for public input before finalizing its plans.
Cleveland updates its climate action plan every five years. The latest draft proposes a 63% emission reduction by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. The draft also proposes a bigger push for clean energy, investments in community infrastructure and green space and cleaner practices in local industry.
"That is the type of ambition that's necessary to both establish Cleveland as a leader in this space, as well as to make sure that our community is not just protected from the worst impacts of climate change but can also be better positioned to take advantage of the benefits of climate action," said Tim Kovach, a decarbonization strategist with the mayor's Office of Sustainability.
Sustainable Cleveland hopes residents will give feedback on areas of importance and how well the plan addresses their climate concerns, Kovach said.
"We wanted to try to make it as approachable and as accessible as possible so that people can review what matters most to them and let us know whether or not ... what we're proposing lines up with what they want to see," Kovach said.
The city is accepting feedback on the Sustainable Cleveland website through the end of the month.
Though Cleveland and Northeast Ohio can be seen as a "climate haven" due to its proximity to Lake Erie, no place is immune to the effects of climate change, Kovach said. Northeast Ohio's recent experiences with a series of tornadoes this summer along with smoke from Canadian wildfires in 2023 are examples of that.
"As a community with a large number of residents who are very vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, but who are also experiencing the long-lasting legacy effects of poverty, of racial injustice, of environmental pollution [and] redlining, we aren't looking to tell people how to live their lives," Kovach said. "We are just trying to help them to access the resources and the information that they need to protect themselves."
The plan will also help community members take advantage of clean energy and tap into its benefits, said Sarah O’Keeffe with the mayor’s Office of Sustainability.
"This plan helps incentivize and inspire and prioritizes different kinds of energy sources," she said, "whether it's in your home, whether it's in outside, that will help mitigate both air quality, for example, and health and health outcomes."
The city has made progress since it published its first Climate Action Plan in 2013, Kovach said. It met its goal of reducing emissions by 16% in 2020, kicked-off solar expansion programs at the local and regional levels and recently announced a food waste reduction partnership with Rustbelt Riders.
Under the guidance of the next Climate Action Plan, residents can expect to see more programs supporting climate resilience and sustainable upgrades throughout the city over the next five years.
"What we don't expect is for a resident who's very vulnerable to climate change, who has energy burden or any other burden to take on the mantle of solving climate change," she said. "Our goal [is] as a city to inspire action, to make sure that those most affected first and worst by climate change impacts benefit the most from our transitions in our implementation of our Climate Action Plan, and that is really truly climate justice that we're seeking through this kind of plan."
