San Diego City Council voted 8-0 Aug. 2 to support an update of the City’s Climate Action Plan.

Councilmember Chris Cate was absent from the vote.

The update formalizes the City’s goal of achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2035. It also reinforces the City’s standing as a statewide and national climate leader.

One hundred percent renewable energy means getting all energy from renewable resources – sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat – to be used for electricity, heating, cooling and transport.

Net zero applies to bringing global greenhouse gas emissions from human activity into balance with emissions reductions. At net zero, carbon dioxide emissions are still generated, but an equal amount of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere as it is released into it, resulting in a zero increase in net emissions.

“Years of delay and disinvestment have left San Diegans ill-prepared for climate impacts like pollution, deadly heat waves, wildfires, and droughts,” said the Climate Action Campaign, a nonprofit with a mission to stop the climate crisis, in a statement before the City Council meeting. “The City can safeguard our health and safety by making sure that this plan is implemented.”

“Achieving the CAP goals requires a shift in how we power our buildings, move around the City, reduce our reliance on imported water and expand our tree canopy and wetlands,” said District 1 Councilmember Joe LaCava representing La Jolla who chairs the Council’s Environment Committee. “There is a lot of work ahead of us. Climate action in the City is clearly already underway.”

Added LaCava, “We have an aggressive work plan in the months ahead, not just the implementation plan itself, but the department work plans and the administrative regulations. Success in meeting our new CAP goals will have to come from every City department. As a City we will track progress, we will meet our targets.”

“This CAP is a landmark for our City,” said Council President Sean Elo-Rivera. ‘It’s something that other cities in the country will model their CAPs off of. I can’t emphasize how significant our commitment to zero emissions is. What we hope will be different this time is whether or not we hit the goals that are being set.”

Added Elo-Rivera, “I’d like to fast-forward to what San Diego would be like if we meet these goals. We would have healthy indoor air in every home. We’d have safe and efficient mobility options in every neighborhood. We’d have food and water security. We’d have abundant trees and plant life and clean air. With those ideas in mind, we have every reason to work as hard as possible to achieve those goals.”

“We all know that climate change is happening across the world,” said District 2 Councilmember Dr. Jennifer Campbell. “And I’m proud that our City has taken bold action by adopting updated goals and strategies to help combat the effect of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Let us continue, onward and forward, with helping our planet recover from climate change.”

The City’s updated CAP can be viewed at climate-_action-plan-updated-draft.pdf (sandiego.gov).