Santa Monica Commits to Uphold Paris Climate Agreement Goals

June 1, 2017 4:44 PM
by Ted Winterer

This afternoon the White House announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. This action does not diminish Santa Monica’s commitment to climate action and sustainability. Santa Monica is more committed than ever to efforts to protect our planet and prepare for the devastating impacts of climate change. We are poised to release our ambitious Climate Action and Adaptation Plan later this year.

On behalf of Santa Monica, I joined 61 mayors, representing over 35 million Americans, in standing up for the values and goals of the Paris Agreement. Santa Monica has led on climate action and sustainability for more than 20 years. We demonstrate time and again that economic vitality, social equity and environmental protection are mutually dependent.

While Santa Monica has seen growth in population, commerce, and tourism since 1990, we have seen significant reductions in resource use and greenhouse gas emissions. This wasn’t accidental. We recognized almost 30 years ago that we needed to take action to protect the environment and we were one of the first cities with an established sustainability plan.  

More recently, we developed the 15x15 Climate Action Plan with the ambitious goal of reducing community greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent below 1990 levels by 2015. We achieved a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while also adding community serving resources such as parks, libraries, and bike lanes.

Building on our historical successes, Santa Monica has established aggressive goals that will allow us to lead on climate action and sustainability for years to come.

Let this be clear: we are committed to Water Self Sufficiency by 2020; Zero Waste by 2030; and Carbon Neutrality by 2050 or sooner.

Santa Monica is an active participant in Climate Mayors, a network of 88 U.S. cities representing more than 43 million Americans — working together to strengthen local efforts for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting efforts for binding federal and global-level policymaking.

I ask you to join me in tackling these aggressive goals. This effort isn’t about what Mayors can do alone. It’s about every one of us adopting a new way of living and thinking that will make us all safer and healthier. It’s about our wellbeing.

Read more about Climate Mayors’ commitment in our joint letter on Medium.

Authored By

Ted Winterer
Council Member