Sustainability director: city moving from foundation building to systems change; climate plan update due in April

Nicole Antonopoulos, the city’s sustainability director, told council the climate emergency program is transitioning from foundational capacity building to systems change and implementation.

Antonopoulos said the city continues to track municipal and community greenhouse gas inventories and that the carbon neutrality plan will be updated to reflect recent data, equity analysis and resilience planning. She said building energy represents the largest source of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions (about 55% of the community inventory presented), followed by transportation (about 25%) and solid waste (about 13%).

The director said the updated carbon neutrality plan (staff will present a process plan in April) will emphasize municipal infrastructure projects (building electrification and fleet charging readiness), resilience for community systems and a continued focus on equitable distribution of costs and benefits from climate action. Antonopoulos highlighted local programs and partnerships that increase capacity—examples include energy‑efficiency work, partnerships on biomass and biochar, and grant applications to scale resilience projects.

Ending: Antonopoulos said the city intends to move toward measurable municipal actions that reduce emissions by focusing investments where they produce the largest operational benefit and where low‑income and vulnerable populations gain the most from energy and resilience programs. Staff will return with a revised carbon neutrality plan and an implementation timeline in April.