Title
RESOLUTION of the City of San Leandro City Council Endorsing the Declaration of a Climate Emergency and Requesting Regional Collaboration on an Immediate Just Transition and Emergency Mobilization Effort to Restore a Safe Climate
Body
WHEREAS, in April 2016 world leaders from 175 countries recognized the threat of climate change and the urgent need to combat it by signing the Paris Agreement, agreeing to keep warming “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to “pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C”; and
WHEREAS, global warming has increased the earth’s temperature by approximately 1°C, and has also resulted in increased and intensifying wildfires, floods, rising seas, diseases, droughts and extreme weather; and
WHEREAS, the United States of America has disproportionately contributed to the climate and ecological crises and thus bears significant responsibility to rapidly solve these crises; and
WHEREAS, a recent state-wide report, Rising Seas in California, projects a conservative estimate of between 1 and 3.4 feet of sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay by the year 2100; and
WHEREAS, the range of projections in the report includes the possibility of up to 10 feet of sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay by 2100, a scenario consistent with rapid Antarctic ice sheet mass loss that would be catastrophic to San Leandro and virtually every other coastal community; and
WHEREAS, restoring a safe and stable climate requires immediate action to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors to rapidly and safely drawdown or remove all the excess carbon from the atmosphere, and to implement measures to protect all people and species from the consequences of abrupt climate change; and
WHEREAS, frontline communities, which have historically borne the brunt of the extractive fossil-fuel economy, must actively participate in the planning and implementation of this mobilization effort at all levels of government and that they benefit first from the transition to a renewable energy economy; and
WHEREAS, the term “Just Transition” represents an aspirational goal of shifting to an economy that is ecologically sustainable, equitable and just for all its members; and
WHEREAS, just transition initiatives also seek to shift the economy away from prioritizing only highway construction to also expanding public transit, from incinerators and landfills to zero waste, from industrial food systems to sustainable food production, from car-dependent sprawl and unbridled growth to smart urban development without displacement, and from over-development to habitat and ecosystem restoration; and
WHEREAS, core to a just transition is equity, self-determination, culture, tradition, democracy, and the idea that people around the world have a fundamental human right to access clean, healthy and adequate air, water, land, food, education, and shelter; and
WHEREAS, San Leandro is dedicated to being a sustainable, livable city that is proactively working to address the threats of human-induced climate change by reducing pollutants, conserving precious resources, and strengthening our community’s resilience to a changing climate and rising sea levels; and
WHEREAS, the San Leandro City Council has committed to adopt, honor, and uphold the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement by intensifying efforts to meet our city’s current climate goals, push for new action to meet that agreement’s 1.5 °C target, and work together with other communities to create a 21st century clean energy economy; and
WHEREAS, the City of San Leandro has begun a process to update and expand its local Climate Action Plan (CAP) with a goal of meeting or exceeding the City Council’s previously-adopted greenhouse gas emission reduction targets; and
NOW BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, the City of San Leandro declares that a climate emergency threatens our city, region, state, nation, and the planet; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of San Leandro commits to seeking a just transition and climate emergency mobilization effort to address climate change, with appropriate financial and regulatory assistance from the County of Alameda and State and Federal authorities. These efforts would reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as feasible towards the aspirational goal of zero net emissions, and support safely drawing down carbon from the atmosphere, while accelerating adaptation and resilience strategies in preparation for intensifying climate impacts; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of San Leandro supports the need for robust community participation, inclusion, and support, and recognizes that the residents of
San Leandro, along with local community organizations will be integral to the mobilization effort; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of San Leandro commits to keeping the concerns of vulnerable communities central to just transition and climate mobilization effort planning processes, and invites and encourages such communities to participate and advocate directly for their needs; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, the City of San Leandro calls on the State of California, the United States federal government, as well as all other peoples of the world to join with it in prioritizing climate mobilization efforts that will serve to address this serious global challenge.