The Mayor’s Task Force on Climate Action and Adaption Planning is working to include members of the Columbia community in developing a plan of action and strategies related to climate change reduction.
Subcommittees met last week to rate strategies and action items on effectiveness, affordability, feasibility, equity and co-benefits. The strategies aim to help Columbia meet community emissions reduction goals of 35 percent reduction by 2035 and 100 percent reduction by 2060.
Kim Wade is a member of the task force. She said, “the goal is to help Columbia both adapt to climate changes that are happening and will continue to happen, as well as to mitigate our contribution to the climate change problem.”
The goals are a part of Columbia’s membership in the Mayor’s Climate Accord, an agreement among cities to uphold the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.
Carolyn Amparan, a member of the task force, says the strategies aim to help prepare Columbia for changes the climate might bring, such as droughts, heavier rainfall and heat waves.
“We took time to understand what the climate impact had been on Columbia already, and then assess what our vulnerability and our risk are,” Amparan said.
The task force will send a survey to members of the community to get feedback on the strategies. The task force is holding a community workshop on November 28. Members of the public are invited to make recommendations for the climate change reduction strategies.
The task force hopes to present the plan to the City Council by June 2019.