Cleveland City Council

City of Cleveland; Brendle Group; Cleveland Neighborhood Progress; ioby; The Racial Equity Institute; BrownFlynn; Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative; University at Buffalo

This plan provides a comprehensive update on the climate action plan launched by the City of Cleveland in 2013. While many of the focus areas have remained the same over the course of the five years, this plan focuses on scaling up the strategies currently in place in order to increase access to those most in need. Attention was given into “equitably-driven sustainability and climate action,” through an community engagement process, which includes workshops, demographic diversity, and the joint identification of climate priorities by city officials and community residents. The priorities identified by city officials and community residents (i.e., social and racial equity; good jobs, green jobs; climate resilience; and business leadership) were addressed in each of the plan’s primary focus areas: energy efficiency and green building; clean energy; sustainable transportation; clean water and vibrant green space; and more local food, less waste. The latter point, which focuses on local food sourcing and waste reduction, is meant to achieve three specific goals (i.e., encouraging waste reduction and diversion in homes and businesses; reduce food waste and hunger; and enhance the local food system and resident access to high quality, affordable, healthy food) while increasing equity, access, economic viability, climate resiliency, and leadership.