San Diego has agreed to set annual benchmarks for reducing greenhouse gas emissions as part of a settlement to a lawsuit challenging its 2022 climate action plan.
The deal reached with two environmental nonprofits — Climate Action Campaign and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation — placing renewed scrutiny over the city's efforts to reduce car travel, increase development near public transit and end the burning of natural gas for cooking and heating.
In the summer of 2022, Mayor Todd Gloria and the City Council adopted an update to the city's 2015 climate action plan, setting a goal of "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. That means in 11 years, the city will have to remove all its emissions from the atmosphere, either through the natural carbon cycle or technologies that are still in development.
Despite the plan's ambitious goals, its first legally binding benchmark doesn't come until 2030. Nicole Capretz, executive director of Climate Action Campaign, said the lack of earlier deadlines has allowed the city to delay taking more aggressive action on climate change.
"We need to know if we're making progress," Capretz said. "Is there any reduction at all, or are we just flatlining? And if we're flatlining, that's a problem for everybody — and particularly the next generation."
Scientists say climate change will bring more frequent extreme weather events that will disrupt everything from global food supplies to migration patterns. San Diego expects to see more prolonged droughts, extreme heat waves, destructive wildfires and flooding from both rising sea levels and more intense rainstorms.
Under the settlement, which the City Council approved last week, San Diego agreed to release annual inventories of greenhouse gas emissions and assess whether it is on track to meet the climate plan's 2030 and 2035 goals.
For example, in 2026 the city will be allowed to emit the equivalent of 7.36 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That would represent a roughly 20% reduction from emissions in 2020, when the burning of fossil fuels was already well below normal due to COVID-19 restrictions.
If the city fails to meet its annual emissions targets, staff are required to hold public workshops and develop updated plans to get back on track.
"This agreement reinforces the city’s commitment to fully implementing the Climate Action Plan transparently and collaboratively with continued regular monitoring and reporting," said Alyssa Muto, director of the city's Sustainability and Mobility Department. "Confronting the climate crisis is crucial to protecting our quality of life and economic vitality."
Muto said the settlement also eliminates uncertainty over the city's growth and development plans, which are allowed to be streamlined under state environmental laws because of the city's commitment to reduce emissions. The growth plan for Mira Mesa had been thrown into legal doubt because of a separate lawsuit filed by the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, which was also settled.
"I appreciate the efforts of local advocates and stakeholders that keep San Diego on the leading edge of climate action and work with us on housing and community infrastructure needs," Muto said.
