Highlights
Sierra Nevada Alliance's Climate Program is in Full Swing with CivicSpark members Meredith and Sam, leading the Charge!
Our Background in Climate Change Work
The Sierra Nevada Alliance has a long history of supporting sustainable planning. Since 1998 Alliance staff have actively partnered with member groups and allies to develop and implement local and regional resource plans, which have served as models for a resilient and thriving Sierra region amidst rising economic, environmental and societal challenges due in large part to climate change.
The Alliance prioritizes working with grass root community groups and jurisdictions to create and adopt plans based on smart-growth objectives and principles. Actions incorporated into these plans have included fighting for the protection of open space, participating in efforts to develop model Sustainable Community Strategies, engaging with the Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative, and supporting the adoption of 100% renewable resolutions throughout the Sierra. These projects as well as other regional efforts, such as the creation of the robust Sierra Integrated Regional Water Management Plan and the adoption of National Forest Plans, demonstrate our commitment to preserving the area’s resource in the face of climate change.
In 2018, the Alliance has begun to expand the focus of technical assistance to communities who passed 100% resolutions in 2017. Alliance In order to help achieve the 100% resolutions in SLT and Truckee (the Alliance facilitated) it is apparent that immediate capacity building and actions are needed. The Alliance has hired two new staff through Local Government Commission’s CivicSpark AmeriCorps program, which seeks to help build capacity for local governments and nonprofits as well as build community resilience. Climate Fellows Meredith Anderson and Sam Ruderman have joined the Sierra Nevada Alliance team y focused in three areas: Greenhouse Gas Inventorying and Forecasting for the City of South Lake Tahoe; developing and implementing specific guidelines for Sustainability Actions for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency; and working regionally to collaborate on and promote climate actions and initiatives throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin. The hope is that their efforts will later template and duplicate itself across the Sierra.
AmeriCorps’ CivicSpark Program
CivicSpark is a Governor’s Initiative AmeriCorps program dedicated to building capacity for local governments to address community resilience issues such as: climate change, water resource management, and access to opportunities. Sam and Meredith will serve for 11 months (September 2018-August 2019), and in collaboration with local government staff, they will implement a a number of sustainability projects, while also building long-term capacity to ensure the work is sustained after their service year is completed. They are fired up to be working on such important climate initiatives and are excited to contribute to making a positive impact in the Sierra. The Alliance’s Executive Director, Jenny Hatch, is thrilled to be building the Climate Program capacity and encourages other communities to reach out if they are interested in this type of support.
City of South Lake Tahoe
In April 2017, the City Council of South Lake Tahoe passed a resolution committing to the goals of achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2030 and 100% renewable energy by 2050. This effort was led by the Alliance with assistance and support from a variety of partners and stakeholders throughout the Basin. To reach these goals--as well as the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets set by California’s SB 32 legislation--it is necessary for the City of South Lake Tahoe to have an accurate understanding of the current state of their GHG emissions. Completing an updated, city-specific Greenhouse Gas Inventory is therefore the vital next-step before the CSLT can move forward in its climate planning.
Once the Inventory is completed, it will be necessary to model and forecast future emissions across a number of likely scenarios, taking into account factors such as historical data, population growth rate, local economic trends, technological innovation, and expected development. These projections can then inform the decisions of those working on climate planning and can allow them to consider which actions are best suited to reduce emissions. A Climate Action Plan (CAP) can then begin to be drafted to lay out the steps needed to reach renewable energy and GHG emissions reductions targets. Ultimately, the Alliance hopes to assist in developing and implementing a CAP for the CSLT.
Reducing the carbon footprint of its own government operations is another objective that has been identified by the City, and the Climate Fellows will be examining a number of opportunities to achieve this goal. Installing solar on municipal buildings is one option that is currently being explored, as is the transformation of the government vehicle fleet over to all electric vehicles. Facilities Energy Audits will also be a key component in identifying further emissions reductions opportunities.
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
Recognizing the need to embrace sustainability and all planning and implementation activities in the Lake Region, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) published a Sustainability Action Plan in 2013. The purpose of this report was to provide tools to assist local governments, agencies, businesses, residents, visitors and community groups with prioritizing and adopting consistent sustainability actions throughout the region. The Sustainability Action Plan represents an integrated approach to reducing GHG emissions and striving toward zero-impact in all aspects of sustainability.
The Plan includes numerous sustainability and GHG reduction actions that can be undertaken by Regional agencies and local jurisdictions. The Alliance is examining this menu of actions in order to determine which are the most appropriate for the CSLT and may be the most effective in reducing emissions. Other considerations include the associated environmental co-benefits, both private and public costs, job generation, and overall feasibility.
With a focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy, our Climate Fellows have decided to investigate El Dorado County’s current Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Financing Program, which offers financing to property owners for energy efficiency retrofits and renewable energy installations. This allows property owners to invest with minimal financial risk. Simultaneously the municipality benefits by gaining progress toward emissions reductions targets with little or no investment from general funds.
In conjunction with this Action, we will be pursuing capital improvements to reduce energy consumption through energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades in public facilities. Incorporating renewable energy installations at these facilities will also be a priority. Together, this may look something like replacing old street lights with new, solar powered LED light bulbs. These measures will act to reduce energy consumption, increase monetary energy savings, and improve the energy independence and resiliency of the region.
While a majority of Sierra Nevada Alliance’s climate work will be happening in the South Lake Tahoe area, the Fellows will engage in regional coordination with other climate-focused organizations and support the implementation of climate actions within the Basin and Town of Truckee. Through these local climate initiatives, Sierra Nevada Alliance hopes to generate valuable resources and provide guidance for other communities within the Sierra. Ultimately this will allow the Basin to most effectively and efficiently take on the challenge of tackling climate change.
A Summary of the New Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report
By Kif Scheuer, the Climate Change Program Director for CivicSpark
Major Takeaways
In model pathways with no or limited overshoot of 1.5°C, global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions decline by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030 (40–60% interquartile range), reaching net zero around 2050 (2045–2055 interquartile range). For limiting global warming to below 2°C11 CO2 emissions are projected to decline by about 20% by 2030 in most pathways (10–30% interquartile range) and reach net zero around 2075 (2065–2080 interquartile range). Non-CO2 emissions in pathways that limit global warming to 1.5°C show deep reductions that are similar to those in pathways limiting warming to 2°C. (high confidence).
Pathways limiting global warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot would require rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land, urban and infrastructure (including transport and buildings), and industrial systems (high confidence). These systems transitions are unprecedented in terms of scale, but not necessarily in terms of speed, and imply deep emissions reductions in all sectors, a wide portfolio of mitigation options and a significant upscaling of investments in those options(medium confidence).
Estimates of the global emissions outcome of current nationally stated mitigation ambitions as submitted under the Paris Agreement would lead to global greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 of 52–58 GtCO2eq yr-1 (medium confidence). Pathways reflecting these ambitions would not limit global warming to 1.5°C, even if supplemented by very challenging increases in the scale and ambition of emissions reductions after 2030 (high confidence). Avoiding overshoot and reliance on future large-scale deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) can only be achieved if global CO2 emissions start to decline well before 2030 (high confidence). {1.2, 2.3, 3.3, 3.4, 4.2, 4.4, Cross-Chapter Box 11 in Chapter 4}
Strengthening the capacities for climate action of national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities can support the implementation of ambitious actions implied by limiting global warming to 1.5°C (high confidence). International cooperation can provide an enabling environment for this to be achieved in all countries and for all people, in the context of sustainable development. International cooperation is a critical enabler for developing countries and vulnerable regions (high confidence).
Projected Risks
Extreme hot days in mid-latitudes warm by up to about 3°C at global warming of 1.5°C and about 4°C at 2°C, and extreme cold nights in high latitudes warm by up to about 4.5°C at 1.5°C and about 6°C at 2°C (high confidence).
By 2100, global mean sea level rise is projected to be around 0.1 metre lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared to 2°C(medium confidence).
Marine ice sheet instability in Antarctica and/or irreversible loss of the Greenland ice sheet could result in multi-metre rise in sea level over hundreds to thousands of years. These instabilities could be triggered around 1.5°C to 2°C of global warming (medium confidence).
Of 105,000 species studied, 6% of insects, 8% of plants and 4% of vertebrates are projected to lose over half of their climatically determined geographic range for global warming of 1.5°C, compared with 18% of insects, 16% of plants and 8% of vertebrates for global warming of 2°C (medium confidence)
Approximately 4% (interquartile range 2–7%) of the global terrestrial land area is projected to undergo a transformation of ecosystems from one type to another at 1ºC of global warming, compared with 13% (interquartile range 8–20%) at 2°C (medium confidence). This indicates that the area at risk is projected to be approximately 50% lower at 1.5°C compared to 2°C (medium confidence).
Limiting global warming to 1.5°C rather than 2°C is projected to prevent the thawing over centuries of a permafrost area in the range of 1.5 to 2.5 million km2 (medium confidence).
Coral reefs, for example, are projected to decline by a further 70–90% at 1.5°C (high confidence) with larger losses (>99%) at 2ºC (very high confidence). The risk of irreversible loss of many marine and coastal ecosystems increases with global warming, especially at 2°C or more (high confidence).
Limiting global warming to 1.5°C, compared with 2°C, could reduce the number of people both exposed to climate-related risks and susceptible to poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050 (medium confidence).
Limiting global warming to 1.5°C, compared to 2°C, may reduce the proportion of the world population exposed to a climate-change induced increase in water stress by up to 50%, although there is considerable variability between regions (medium confidence).
Reduction Pathways
In 1.5°C pathways with no or limited overshoot, renewables are projected to supply 70–85% (interquartile range) of electricity in 2050 (high confidence)…In modelled 1.5°C pathways with limited or no overshoot, the use of CCS would allow the electricity generation share of gas to be approximately 8% (3–11% interquartile range) of global electricity in 2050, while the use of coal shows a steep reduction in all pathways and would be reduced to close to 0% (0–2%) of electricity (high confidence).
All pathways that limit global warming to 1.5°C with limited or no overshoot project the use of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) on the order of 100–1000 GtCO2 over the 21st century. CDR would be used to compensate for residual emissions and, in most cases, achieve net negative emissions to return global warming to 1.5°C following a peak (high confidence).
Most current and potential CDR measures could have significant impacts on land, energy, water, or nutrients if deployed at large scale (high confidence).
Costs
Total annual average energy-related mitigation investment for the period 2015 to 2050 in pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C is estimated to be around 900 billion USD2015 (range of 180 billion to 1800 billion USD2015 across six models17).
Global model pathways limiting global warming to 1.5°C are projected to involve the annual average investment needs in the energy system of around 2.4 trillion USD2010 between 2016 and 2035 representing about 2.5% of the world GDP (medium confidence).
Approach to Solutions
Future climate-related risks would be reduced by the upscaling and acceleration of far-reaching, multi-level and cross sectoral climate mitigation and by both incremental and transformational adaptation (high confidence).
A mix of adaptation and mitigation options to limit global warming to 1.5°C, implemented in a participatory and integrated manner, can enable rapid, systemic transitions in urban and rural areas (high confidence).
Redistributive policies across sectors and populations that shield the poor and vulnerable can resolve trade-offs for a range of SDGs, particularly hunger, poverty and energy access. Investment needs for such complementary policies are only a small fraction of the overall mitigation investments in 1.5°C pathways. (high confidence)
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