Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
The city of Los Altos Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP), 2022 was adopted by the City Council in March 2022. CAAP 2022 is the successor to Climate Action Plan (CAP), 2013, which targeted a 15 percent reduction in carbon emission by the year 2020 using 2005 as baseline. The City exceeded this target and achieved a 40 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2018 compared to 2005. CAAP 2022, aims to build upon this success and set the city on a path to carbon neutrality by 2035.
CAAP Facts and Features
The CAAP identifies 15 strategies and 68 actions grouped by eight focus areas shown in the table below. The Environmental Commission and staff will be working on implementing these strategies and actions.
Strategies by Focus Area
| Focus Area | Strategies |
|---|---|
| Transportation |
Reduce Citywide Vehicle Miles Traveled by 25% by 2035 Electrify Transportation Electrify Off-Road Mobile Sources |
| Energy |
Reduce Emissions from Energy Consumption Facilitate Building Decarbonization Increase Solar Energy Production |
| Resource Conservation | Reduce Consumption and Waste |
| Municipal Operations |
Operate Sustainable Municipal Buildings Promote Green Municipal Practices Reduce Municipal VMT Integrate Climate Action and Adaptation into City Functions |
| Green Community | Develop Nature-Based Solutions |
| Climate Risk | Understand and Reduce Physical Risk |
| Emergency Management | Integrate Adaptation into Emergency Preparedness and Response |
| Resilient Community | Educate and Protect Residents |
Since the use of fossil fuels for transportation and in the energy sectors accounts for roughly 96 percent of the City’s GHG emissions, the CAAP emphasizes electrification of buildings and transport, reduction in vehicle miles traveled, and increase in active and shared transportation.
Achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 will require reducing as many GHG emissions produced by the City and its residents as possible and sequestering the remaining emissions through nature-based solutions, innovative carbon sequestration solutions, community-based sequestration projects, and local carbon offsets.
In addition to mitigation strategies, the CAAP identifies climate adaptation strategies to address the impacts of climate change such as extreme weather (large storms and heat waves), droughts, wildfires, and air pollution that afflict us. The CAAP also identifies cross-cutting strategies, which target both mitigation and adaptation.
What Can We Do
The CAAP actions were identified through quantitative and qualitative analysis, stakeholder engagement, including but not limited to workshops resident community workshop, business community workshop, and survey of best practices. By achieving the CAAP goals we can together lower our greenhouse gas emissions, address climate change and create a community that is healthy, connected, and vibrant.
