In September 2018, the City Council established its first community-wide greenhouse gas emissions target and created a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan to develop strategies to achieve emission reductions.
The following August of 2019, the Council declared a Climate Crisis and approved new emissions goals in accordance with those set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): reduce carbon emissions by 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, then achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
City staff was charged with creating the Accelerating Iowa City's Action Plan to identify a path toward achieving these emissions reduction goals. It contains 64 actions to be initiated by the City by 2025.
The most recent annual update summarizes the progress made so far.
Greenhouse Gas Reports
Iowa City Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report
The purpose of the Community-wide Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report is to summarize the results of the community-wide GHG inventory using the Global Protocol for Community-Scale GHG Emissions, which identifies both the quantity and sources of emissions produced from activities within Iowa City. This data will assist in informed decision-making to determine future actions to be taken by the community.
Iowa City Municipal Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The City has made substantial progress since 2000 in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy efficiencies and reducing energy costs in city operations. The goal of this report is to update the past municipal GHG inventory, completed in 2009, using updated data for the City's new benchmark. In comparing past inventories, City staff can gain understanding of trends over time to learn what has been successful, as well as understand how to interpret what efforts might be most impactful in reducing future emissions.
Consumption Based Emissions Inventory
Iowa City received a grant from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network to pilot a consumption based emissions inventory tool that has been successfully used in Vancouver, Canada. The goal of the project was to a) create a consumption based emissions inventory and an ecological footprint for Iowa City and b) to better understand if the work can be easily replicated in other U.S. cities. This inventory includes not only emissions from locally generated fossil fuel emissions, but also emissions due to consumable materials and food consumed by Iowa City residents. Cities are moving towards gathering this type of information to get a better understanding of a more accurate picture of the emissions generated from urban centers and how to make changes to lower our impact on the planet.
Climate Projection Report
The Climate in the Heartland is a report that was the result of collaboration between five Midwestern cities and climate experts from their respective states. This project looked at historical climate data and used a variety of modeling techniques to get an accurate projection of future climate projections for each location. The goal of this work was to assist participating cities as they prepare for climate change impact so they can adapt their operations to better serve citizens in a changing environment.
Eastern Iowa Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan (EVRP)
The Eastern Iowa EVRP is a collective effort that Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Dubuque, Davenport, and the regional metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) have established toward the goal of increasing zero-emission vehicle adoption while ensuring the mobility needs of the region and the target carbon emissions reductions are met equitably.