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 this second of this three-year plan, most actions (72%) are ongoing and moving forward, so they will continue beyond the duration of this plan. At least (13%) are on track to be complete by the end of the next fiscal year. No additional actions were achieved this year, leaving the total achieved at two. However, a few more actions were delayed this year.
Over the past year, City of Portland staff notably advanced these priorities of the CEW:
- Invested $600 million into City projects and $700 million in community-wide projects over five years from the Portland Clean Energy Fund.
- Led the way on industrial decarbonization.
- Acquired approximately $7 million in external grant funds; and
- Made the most of one-time general fund investments.
View the digital report and learn more about the City’s progress in these three areas:
View the easy-to-print version of this same document:
Now or Never
City staff accomplished a lot during the first two years of this three-year workplan. However, with less than six 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.
2023 Progress Report
View the 2023 report and learn more about the City’s progress during fiscal year 2023-24: