Boston recognized for leadership and transparency on climate action

Now, more than ever, we know how important it is to listen to scientists and remain focused on reducing emissions while implementing neighborhood-level resilience efforts to protect Boston’s residents, businesses, and communities. This week, Mayor Walsh's commitment to transparent and bold climate action was celebrated, as the City of Boston was recognized as one of 88 global cities on the 2020 CDP Cities A List. The CDP is a non-profit charity that manages global disclosure for private organizations and public agencies to assess their environmental impact and drive climate action. By scoring, the CDP motivates cities to disclose our impacts on the environment and natural resources, and take action to reduce negative impacts.

Mayor Walsh demonstrates the power of local governments to lessen, prepare for, and adapt to the short and long term impacts of climate change.

Cities cover less than 2 percent of the world’s surface, yet they account for roughly 70 percent of global emissions. In Boston, large buildings create nearly 50 percent of our overall emissions. The 2019 Climate Action Update provides a roadmap for decarbonizing buildings and transportation and outlines steps to achieve Mayor Walsh's vision of carbon neutrality and protection from climate change.

Tonight we are hosting the third remote open house to hear resident input as we develop the Building Emissions Performance Standard. We intend to reduce building emissions from existing large buildings - the fossil fuels burned to produce the energy used to heat, cool, and provide electricity to buildings. Retrofitting our buildings can improve energy efficiency, lower energy costs, enhance the health of our residents, and protect our climate. 

In partnership with Eversource, we launched the Building Energy Retrofit Resource Hub, a one-stop shop for medium and large-sized buildings to connect with energy efficiency services and technical support. We want to reduce energy use and carbon emissions while saving money. The Hub will help you find the best solutions for your building.

Just this week, the Transportation Department released its Zero-Emission Vehicle Roadmap. The long-term strategy accelerates the adoption of electric vehicles and other zero-emission transportation, and aligns with the City’s ongoing efforts to increase mode shift away from single-occupancy vehicles into more sustainable modes of transportation like walking, biking, and public transit. 

As we move through the COVID-19 crisis, the City enhanced its Healthy Streets initiative to work towards our Go Boston 2030 transportation goals of climate responsiveness, equity, and economic opportunity. We are using creative strategies, like our new EV charging stations and expansion of bike lanes, to more quickly adapt to our long- term goals. Check out our healthy streets map.

On the front lines of addressing climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, Boston and the other 87 cities continue to ramp up their climate action and ambition, knowing that we need to urgently build resilience and rapidly cut emissions to safeguard the planet, economy, and our residents.