BURLINGTON A-Z

History of Climate Action Planning in Burlington

Burlington has a long history of climate change planning. In 1996, Burlington became one of the first cities to join the “Cities for Climate Protection” campaign, organized by what is now referred to as “ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability.” This led to a 1998 City Council resolution to reduce our emissions to 10% below 1990 levels and the formation of a Climate Protection Task Force. This group, comprised of non-profit, city, and business leaders appointed by then Mayor Peter Clavelle, guided an 18-month analysis and planning process, which ultimately led to the City’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP). This plan was adopted by the City Council in May 2000.

In 2008, Burlington began its CAP update and review process with an inventory of Burlington’s emissions. This inventory, conducted using ICLEI’s Clean Air and Climate Protection (CACP) software, involved input, not only from key City departments such as Burlington Electric Department (BED), Department of Public Works (DPW), and Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ), but other organizations such the Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) and the Regional Planning Commission. The inventory revealed that Burlington’s Community generated over 432,423 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in 2007 and that City Government emitted over 23,285 tons of CO2 equivalent.

These findings – along with Mayor Kiss’s GHG emissions reduction target (20% reduction of 2007 levels by 2020 and 80% reductions by 2050) — were presented at a public forum in September 2008. Over 70 people attended this event, including citizens, members of the media, government officials, non-profit leaders and other stakeholders.

Next, the City launched a lengthy community process, reflective of Burlington’s participatory decision-making and community involvement history. Between September 2008 and February 2009, over 100 community volunteers and City staff gathered in eight working groups to consider the following eight key themes:

Transportation - Community-wide & Governmental
Local Gardens, Farms and Food Production
Energy Efficiency in Buildings
Renewable Energy Resources
Urban Forestry & Carbon Sequestration
Waste Reduction and Recycling
Policy, Research and Education

The workgroups researched and brainstormed action items to reduce the City’s climate footprint. This work resulted in over 200 community-generated recommendations. These ideas were shared and vetted with the public at the December 2008 Legacy Town Meeting. (This event, hosted annually, reviews the community’s goals and successes and involves an element of community engagement around a particular issue or theme.) During the evening, about 50 people weighed in, and new ideas were added and integrated.

In the Fall 2009, Spring Hill Solutions, a local carbon-management, clean energy, and business sustainability consulting firm, was hired with the help of American Recovery Act Funds to filter, analyze and prioritize the 200 + mitigation actions developed by the workgroups. The goal of this process was to define a set of actionable GHG mitigation strategies that will: (1) form the foundation of the City’s CAP; (2) provide the City with a framework to guide decisions on emissions reductions strategies; and (3) better prepare the City to reach its GHG reduction target of 20% of 2007 emission levels by 2020.

Their final report discusses the results of a cost-carbon-benefit analysis and their graphical representation in a cost-abatement curve. Through providing a detailed description and illustration of the relative “carbon bang for each investment buck” for each strategy analyzed, this report constitutes the basis for decision-making in the City’s climate action planning process.

For more information or to read the full Spring Hill Solutions report, click here.

Continue the visit of our website to read more about the prioritized mitigation actions by sector of activity and to learn about the impact of their implementation. It is the City’s intent to revisit this priority list every three years along with the update of the City’s GHG emissions inventory to better track our progress towards our reduction goals.

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