Appendix B – Climate actions
1. Agriculture sector (6 possible actions)
- Improve capacity of farmers and rural organizations (e.g. educating farmers on innovative and cost-effective measures, providing financial support, developing farm level carbon footprint)
- Improve grassland and cropland management (e.g. improve nutrient management, implement rotational or prescribed grazing methods)
- Reduce methane emissions from manure(e.g. install dairy digesters)
- Reduce methane emissions from livestock digestive systems (e.g. feed management to improve productivity)
- Improve soil health/soil carbon sequestration capacity
- Promote other sustainable farming practices
- Other, please specify
2. Buildings & Lighting sector (18 possible actions)
- Improve heating and cooling efficiency (e.g. audits, insulation, HVAC maintenance, white roofs, etc.)
- Increase awareness/engage public on energy efficiency/clean energy programs
- Install biomass heating
- Install clean cook stoves
- Install energy efficient lighting systems (e.g. LED)
- Install geothermal heating
- Install more efficient luminaires in outdoor lighting (e.g. LED)
- Install smart energy meters/sub-meters
- Install solar heating/hot water
- Promote and strengthen building energy performance rating/certification/benchmarking
- Promote energy efficient appliances
- Set/strengthen appliance efficiency standards
- Set/strengthen HVAC efficiency standards
- Set/strengthen lighting efficiency standards
- Switch from heating oil to natural gas
- Commit to reaching net-zero operating emissions in public buildings
- Establish a plan/roadmap for all new buildings to produce net-zero GHG emissions
- Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment participants: reducing operating emissions of government-owned building portfolio
- Other, please specify
3. Energy sector (22 possible actions)
- Enable net metering
- Expand/improve transmission to integrate renewables
- Install natural gas power
- Install biomass power
- Install carbon capture and storage (CCS)
- Install combined heat and power (CHP) or trigen
- Install energy storage system
- Install hydropower
- Install microgrids
- Install nuclear power
- Install smart grids
- Install solar power (e.g. PV, CSP)
- Install geothermal power
- Install wind power (e.g. onshore, offshore)
- Install ocean/tidal/wave power
- Measure energy productivity (e.g. GDP per unit of energy)
- Promote demand-side management programs
- Reform utility revenue policies and rate structures
- Phase out coal-fired/inefficient power stations
- Set energy efficiency resource standards (EERS)
- Set a target of 100% zero-carbon power (i.e. based on a large-scale switch to renewable energy)
- Control methane leaks from oil & gas operations
- Other, please specify
4. Finance & Economy sector (15 possible actions)
- Adopt feed in tariff for renewables
- Adopt reverse auction for renewables
- Enable PACE (long term property tax based loans) financing
- Establish GHG emissions trading program
- Increase awareness/engage public on financing mechanisms and incentives for energy efficiency/clean energy
- Invest in clean tech R&D
- Issue green bonds
- Promote on-bill financing
- Provide green mortgages
- Provide loans/guarantees for energy efficiency/clean energy
- Provide tax incentives for clean energy
- Support clean tech clusters/companies
- Implement carbon tax
- Fossil fuel divestment
- Fossil fuel subsidies reform
- Other, please specify
5. Governance sector (7 possible actions)
- Collaborate with cities/local governments in reducing emissions/increasing resilience
- Collaborate with national governments in reducing emissions/increasing resilience (e.g. development and delivery of NDC’s)
- Collaborate with other states/regions in reducing emissions/increasing resilience
- Support and incentivize businesses in reducing emissions/increasing resilience
- Support and incentivize citizens in adapting environmentally friendly practices
- Complete a 2050 Pathways analysis (i.e. strategy for meeting mid-century GHG reduction goals)
- Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals
- Other, please specify
6. Industry sector (7 possible actions)
- Improve energy efficiency of industrial processes
- Promote industrial symbiosis/industrial ecology programs
- Promote reduced packaging
- Support green manufacturing
- Implement green public/private partnerships with industry
- Support digitalization of industry
- Regulate / incentivize reduction in use of HFC’s
- Other, please specify
7. Land use sector (6 possible actions)
- Establish GHG reduction plan for LULUCF (e.g. REDD+, etc.)
- Promote conservation efforts for natural areas
- Promote sustainable forest management
- Undertake strategic environmental assessment
- Promote sustainable coastal ecosystem management
- Establish guidelines for siting renewable power
- Other, please specify
8. Transport sector (14 possible actions)
- Improve public transport services (e.g. adopt, high speed rail, improve bus services, improve rail services)
- Promote digitalization in the transport sector (e.g. real-time information)
- Promote active transport such as walking and cycling
- Switch freight from high carbon to low carbon transport
- Increase awareness/engage public on private transport measures
- Install electric vehicle charging infrastructure (i.e. home, work, highways, etc.)
- Provide incentives for zero-emission vehicles (e.g. purchase rebate, tax exemptions)
- Promote alternative fuel production (e.g. biofuels, natural gas, hydrogen, etc.)
- Set/strengthen standards for vehicles (e.g. for fuel economy GHG emissions, low carbon fuels)
- Set manufacturing requirements (e.g. zero-emission vehicle standard)
- Switch to electric/hybrid vehicles in cars/taxis/government fleets
- Switch to other lower-carbon fuel in cars/taxis/government fleets (e.g. biofuels, natural gas, hydrogen, etc.)
- ZEV Challenge Participants: progress towards procuring only zero-emission passenger vehicles for appropriate public fleets by 2030, or
- converting all appropriate public fleet vehicles to zero-emission vehicles by 2030
- Other, please specify
9. Waste sector (12 possible actions)
- Adopt source separation policies (e.g. collection for dry recyclables, organic compostable waste, etc.)
- Establish waste reduction/recycling plan
- Increase awareness/engage public on waste reduction/recycling measures
- Install advanced thermal treatment/waste to energy
- Install anaerobic digestion
- Install landfill gas management/landfill gas to energy
- Install mechanical biological treatment
- Install municipal recycling points or centers (for residents or businesses)
- Install waste heat recovery
- Implement practices and policies to promote circular economy
- Reducing the municipal solid waste generation per capita
- Reducing the amount of municipal solid waste disposed to landfill and incineration and increase the diversion rate away from landfill and incineration
- Other, please specify
10. Water sector (4 possible actions)
- Install water efficiency measures
- Adopt wastewater to energy initiatives (e.g. methane recovery for reuse)
- Install smart water meters
- Promote water recycling or reclamation
- Other, please specify
11. Healthcare sector (3 possible actions)
- Support hospitals and public health systems to reduce GHG emissions (e.g. renewable energy, energy efficiency, reduce waste, etc.)
- Support hospitals and public health systems to increase resilience to climate impacts (e.g. emergency response systems, microgrids, etc.)
- Take steps to better integrate health policy and climate policy within the government
- Other, please specify