What we did
In 2023, Washington State HB1181 legislation added a climate goal to the Growth Management Act (GMA), as well as new requirements for Washington cities and counties to include a climate element in their comprehensive plans. Olympia’s climate element includes two sub-elements: a GHG reduction sub-element and a resilience sub-element, to create a roadmap for implementing emissions reductions and adapting to climate change, respectively. Olympia partnered with ICLEI USA to support this work.
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What we achieved
For the resilience sub-element, ICLEI USA designed and conducted a Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment, which summarized the City’s exposure to climate-related hazards and specific vulnerabilities and risks.
ICLEI USA supported the mitigation sub-element of Olympia’s comprehensive planning process by providing feedback on climate policies and actions and by providing technical support on emissions reporting and targets. ICLEI USA also presented on the City’s emissions, forecasted emissions, and contribution analysis to the City’s Climate Policy Advisory Team to help them identify priority focus areas for emissions reductions. Finally, ICLEI USA helped the City create a Mitigation Measures Activity to help staff identify, refine, and select actions to include in the final comprehensive plan.
ICLEI USA also developed and facilitated a workshop with City departments to identify goals and policies for both the resilience and mitigation sub-elements.
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