The need to address the climate crisis is clear. Portlanders experienced record-shattering heat, choking smoke from increasing wildfires, more frequent floods, and other extreme climate events over the past several years. Scientists also recently published a warning that the next five summers will be the hottest on record. In fact, Earth is likely to pass 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming over pre-industrial levels, a key climate threshold, by 2027.
There is still time to avert the worst impacts of climate change if we take the actions outlined in the CEW, but the window grows ever smaller. We have a plan, the necessary technologies, and the time to change the course of events for the Portlanders today and for the future. We simply must keep doing more.
In the first of this three-year plan, City staff successfully completed two of the 47 actions and 92% remain on track. Only two experienced a delay. The City of Portland notably advanced the priorities of the Climate Emergency Workplan in these areas:
- Transportation: Advancements in decarbonizing the transportation sector
- Resilience: Improvements that address extreme flooding and heat events
- Equity: Strategic investments in East Portland
View the report and learn more about the City’s progress in these three areas:
Now or Never
City staff accomplished a lot during the first year of this three-year workplan. However, with only 6.5 years until 2030, there is still so much that we must accomplish together. Over the next two years, we will continue to work on these actions and develop strategies to help reach net zero carbon by 2050. Several key initiatives and areas of focus identified in this report will help us get there, and their success depends on community and City Council support.