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Flagstaff staff outline 2025 update to carbon neutrality plan; plan keeps 2030 target, adds equity and resilience workstreams
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Summary
City sustainability staff outlined a 2025 update to Flagstaff's Carbon Neutrality Plan, saying the revision will update emissions data, add an equity scan, elevate resilience and produce a municipal operations extract and redesigned public materials.
Joanie Nieman, identified in the meeting as the Climate Action (Section) Director, gave the commission a detailed briefing on the city's planned 2025 update to Flagstaff's Carbon Neutrality Plan. Nieman said the original plan grew from community work begun in 2017 and adopted in 2021 and that the update will focus on six areas: updated emissions data and projections, an equity scan, a resilience/adaptation emphasis, a municipal operations extract, a content redesign (to improve accessibility), and public engagement and dashboards.
Nieman framed the update as a progress check: the city will report where community and municipal emissions stand relative to the baseline used in the plan (2016), document which actions have started or been completed, and revise the projections accordingly. Nieman said the plan's current structure anticipated a blend of emissions reductions and carbon dioxide removal: "by 2030, we will have reduced our emissions by about 46%" and the remainder would be addressed through carbon dioxide removal approaches the city would purchase or partner to provide.
On carbon dioxide removal, Nieman described multiple approaches the city is exploring, from natural approaches (forestry, soil carbon) to engineered solutions such as direct air capture and industrial approaches. She said the city is convening a regional effort (the 4 Corners carbon coalition) to identify purchase and partnership options and mentioned local private-sector work such as BlockLight's use of concrete that stores carbon.
The update will also carve a municipal operations plan out of the larger document so that city divisions (fleet, water, buildings, parks) can find concrete operational guidance in one place. Nieman said sustainability staff are meeting individually with divisions to surface operational needs, risks and priorities (for example, how hotter, smokier summers will affect outdoor workers) and to translate those into municipal-level actions.
Nieman told commissioners the update will include an equity scan to make actions more specific and to better identify how benefits and burdens are distributed across populations. She also said the city will make resilience and adaptation more prominent in the plan to reflect community interest in wildfire preparedness, stormwater and public-safety impacts.
On data and measurement, Nieman said the city performs an annual greenhouse gas inventory using third-party, nationally used software and utility data (APS electricity deliveries are a routine input). She told the commission Flagstaff does not operate an atmospheric CO2 monitoring network like larger nonattainment cities and therefore relies on inventories and partner research (NAU researchers were mentioned) for local emissions estimates. Asked "How do we remove carbon dioxide in the year?", she replied the industry is evolving and described options the city is exploring including purchasing removals and supporting regional projects.
Nieman said the city will improve public presentation of the plan (professional redesign and an online dashboard) and intends to provide quarterly updates to the Sustainability Commission, hold community workshops beginning this fall, and aim for a draft revision to go to City Council in spring 2026. She invited commissioner feedback on public engagement and said a professional design firm already contracted on the project will help make the plan more accessible.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the inventory methodology, the role of carbon dioxide removal, monitoring limitations, and partnerships with county and regional entities; Nieman responded with details about data sources, the role of municipal versus community actions, and the city's work with neighboring jurisdictions.
The staff also presented a monthly division report that summarized recent sustainability office activity: a youth climate teach-in, the city's annual drop-off event (staff reported assisting 535 households and diverting material from landfill collections), distribution of electric landscape equipment to city divisions (40 items), a home weatherization rebate program that provided nearly $150,000 in assistance and closed for the year, and community programs including community gardens, stewardship hubs and an upcoming public EV ride-and-drive event with NAU and Drive Electric Arizona.
Nieman asked the commission to expect quarterly briefings and to help plan public workshops; commissioners confirmed interest in deeper dives on transportation, energy and implementation steps at the commission retreat and in future meetings.
