Multnomah County/City of Portland
Climate Action Plan
View the Climate Action Plan here
On October 28th & 29th, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and Portland City Council unanimously adopted the 2009 Climate Action Plan with a goal of reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions 89% by 2050. The 2009 Climate Action Plan serves as the 40-year roadmap for the institutional and individual change needed to reach this ambitious climate change goal. There are tremendous opportunities for communities that are leading the transition to a clean energy economy, including the creation of green jobs, clean technology innovation export, and a resilient local economy.
We need to work together with every citizen and every business to make the fundamental changes that will help us reach the 2050 goal. This plan identifies objectives and actions that will help residents, businesses and government work together to prevent climate change and strengthen our community's resiliency.
Urban areas are responsible for 75 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions. With the concentration of the world’s population living in cities expected to increase from the current level of 50 percent to 60 percent by 2030, urban areas increasingly present the greatest opportunities to reduce global carbon emissions.
In 1993, Portland became the first local government in the United States to adopt a strategy to address global warming. In 2001, Multnomah County joined the City of Portland in adopting a revised plan, the Local Action Plan on Global Warming, outlining 150 short- and long-term actions to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2010.
For comparison, the target for the U.S. under the never ratified Kyoto treaty is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions seven percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The City and County have made substantial progress in carrying out the 2010 goal of the Local Action Plan. Local emissions peaked in 2000 at 11 percent over 1990 levels; by 2007, emissions had fallen below 1990 levels, despite rapid population and economic growth. On a per capita basis, local emissions have fallen by 17 percent since 1990.
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Climate Change Effects on the Pacific NW • Mt. Hood's glaciers are shrinking • More frequent heat waves • Less reliable water supplies • Los Angeles summer heat in Portland • Reduced snow for ski industry • Reduced hydroelectric power capacity |
| What YOU Can Do Calculate your emissions, reduce emissions, learn more |
| Reports and Publications Cityof Portland research and reports on climate change |
| What is Local Government Doing? City and County actions are helping reduce emissions |
| Local Actions Against Global Warming How is our region reducing emissions? |
Portland/Multnomah Local Action Plan on Global Warming (2001)