In 2011, the Mayor set forth a comprehensive Climate Action Plan to be updated every three years. What’s happened since then?
We’ve made steady progress on reaching the Mayor’s goal to reduce municipal and community-wide greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2020. The City of Boston has also taken significant steps to prepare for the impacts of climate change and is more prepared today than ever before. And, through the launch of Greenovate Boston last spring, we are reaching and educating more and more people on actions they can take to reduce their own carbon footprint.
So what’s next?
That is the question we never stop asking. There is still a long road ahead to reach our goals and make Boston the greenest City in the world.
Last Tuesday, the Mayor marked the kickoff of the 2014 Climate Action Plan, which will focus on climate preparedness and community engagement. To reach our ambitious goals, Boston needs every resident and business in the city to be a part of the plan. Our goal is to make this next climate action plan a true community plan that, with support from the City, will be created and implement by the community.
To that end, we launched the unique engagement portal, Engage Greenovate Boston. This new ‘virtual town hall’ for sustainability offers an unprecedented new opportunity for Bostonians to provide input on the climate action plan and share your ideas and stories around climate change: What are you most worried about with respect to the effects of climate change? What do you think is the biggest value for the City in becoming more sustainable? We’ll continue to do our community meetings throughout the update, but this website makes it extremely easy for anyone to participate from their home computer, a library or even their mobile phone. It has never been easier to share your ideas on sustainability in a meaningful way in Boston.
Feedback will be evaluated and reviewed by City cabinet members, senior staff, and the Greenovate team. We’ll make sure that your voice is heard. Don’t be afraid to connect with others on the website as well!
Over the next few months, we’ve got many new, exciting ways for people to engage with the Greenovate Boston platform –follow the conversation at #EngageBos, and share this great new tool with your friends and professional networks!
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