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Leon County
Board of County Commissioners Agenda Item#37 September 12, 2023 |
| To: | Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board |
| From: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
| Title: | Consideration of a Resolution Endorsing the Declaration of a Climate Emergency in Leon County |
| Review and Approval: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
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Department/Division Review and Approval: |
Alan Rosenzweig, Deputy County Administrator Ken Morris, Assistant County Administrator Ben Pingree, Assistant County Administrator |
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Lead Staff/ Project Team: |
Maggie Theriot, Director, Office of Resource Stewardship |
Statement of Issue:
As requested at the May 9, 2023 Board meeting, this item provides an analysis and recommends approval of a Resolution endorsing the Declaration of a Climate Emergency in Leon County (Attachment #1) initially presented to the Board by the youth advocacy organization GenCLEO. The County has coordinated closely with the group and the recommended Resolution incorporates all but one of GenCLEO’s requests.
Fiscal Impact:
This item has no fiscal impact.
Staff Recommendation:
Option #1: Adopt the Resolution endorsing the declaration of a Climate Emergency in Leon County (Attachment #1).
Report and Discussion
Background:
As requested at the May 9, 2023 Board meeting, this item recommends approval of a Resolution Endorsing the Declaration of a Climate Emergency in Leon County (Attachment #1). This issue was presented to the Board by the youth advocacy organization GenCLEO. The County has coordinated closely with the group and the proposed Resolution incorporates all of GenCLEO’s recommendations, except for creating a standalone Youth Advisory Committee.
GenCLEO is the youth advocacy arm of a larger parent organization, the CLEO Institute. GenCLEO and the CLEO Institute are a climate education and advocacy group based in Florida focusing on: climate education, climate and health, climate justice, climate policy and advocacy, disaster preparedness, and energy justice. The CLEO Institute has staff that are responsible for organizing and leading the youth advocacy of GenCLEO.
The recommended Resolution (Attachment #1) addresses all objectives of the GenCLEO group except for the creation of a Youth Advisory Committee. As explained in detail below, this agenda item does not recommend this new committee as it would be duplicative of existing stakeholder engagement efforts by the County. The recommended Resolution would declare human-made climate change as a systemic crisis disproportionately affecting frontline and vulnerable persons. The draft Resolution submitted by GenCLEO for Board consideration which includes the creation of a standalone Youth Advisory Committee in provided in Attachment #2.
Consistent with the language in the proposed Resolution, Leon County has been a leader in sustainability and climate change mitigation, often creating best practices in programs and policy for other local governments to replicate. Through the creation of the Office of Sustainability 15 years ago, Leon County has delivered the nation’s first certified Net Zero renovated public building, patented a rainwater collection system reusing petroleum storage tanks, was the first county to sign the Conference of Mayors 100% Renewable Energy Resolution, initiated the Capital Area Sustainability Compact, and has activated Florida’s first biochar facility. Longstanding action towards climate change positioned the County to achieve its 2008 sustainability strategic plan and related 20% Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction goal in 2017. Following this success, the Board approved the Integrated Sustainability Action Plan (ISAP) in 2019, laying out steps for the next decade of continued progress. Across the 18 goals and 91 supporting action items, the overarching goal of the ISAP is to reduce County GHG emissions by 30% by the year 2030. The County’s continuous reduction of GHG is in alignment with the recommended Resolution presented as Attachment #1.
County achievements in program and policy outcomes are based in substantial stakeholder and community involvement. The formation of the ISAP was shaped by in-depth involvement and feedback through public input sessions, an online input survey, and the 2019 Sustainable Community Summit. In total, input on the plan was received from more than 200 citizens, and staff integrated 96% of actionable citizen suggestions into the draft plan. Continued engagement with the numerous partners, such as GenCLEO, is key to the continued progress of the County’s sustainability program and is contemplated in the recommended option in the following analysis.
Analysis:
The GenCLEO proposal calls for Leon County action to reduce GHG, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and to do so in an inclusionary manner. As detailed in this section, the group’s “calls to action” are nearly all addressed through existing and planned County programming, policy, and initiatives. The aspiration and vision of the youth advocacy group is consistent with the County’s sustainability program, as it is rooted in citizen and stakeholder engagement, and their request is nearly fully addressed in the proposed Resolution, presented in the next section.
Proposed Resolution (Attachment #1)
In follow up to the GenCLEO proposed climate declaration in May, the County engaged with GenCLEO representatives sharing background and documents pertaining to the County’s progress and future goals in sustainability. The County collaborated with CLEO Institute staff responsible for organizing and leading the youth advocacy of GenCLEO to review the proposed Climate Emergency Declaration in detail, refine clauses, and discuss practical implications of various directives. The GenCLEO document, first presented to the Board in May, served as a starting point for review of County programs and further collaborative refinement. GenCLEO provided a refined climate declaration as a result of the collaboration (Attachment #2). The updated proposal is more narrowly tailored to Leon County while still representing the viewpoints of GenCLEO.
The proposed Resolution begins with a series of Whereas statements outlining the international and national trends of climate change, and the resulting impacts of global trends. Pointing to human-made climate change, the Whereas statements focus on vulnerable populations culminating in a “climate emergency” and call for mitigating action to occur as quickly as 2030. The Resolution goes on to highlight various steps Leon County has taken in pursuit of sustainability. As recommended, a series of Be It Resolved statements contain the following calls to action:
Each of the action items are broadly endorsed by GenCLEO and demonstrated through existing County sustainability efforts. In light of the in-depth collaboration with GenCLEO, the Resolution is supported by GenCLEO and staff. However, GenCLEO’s climate declaration includes one additional recommendation, the creation of a standalone Youth Advisory Committee, which this agenda item does not support and therefore is not included in the proposed Resolution (Attachment #3).
Youth Advisory Committee – The GenCLEO draft Climate Emergency Declaration proposed the establishment of a Youth Advisory Committee (ages 7-29) which would meet quarterly, participate in decisions, provide scientific research, and present to the Board. The creation of a Youth Advisory Committee is duplicative of existing stakeholder engagement. The County has an existing forum well positioned to achieve the vision of GenCLEO. Known as “Insights & Input,” the forum was created to regularly engage sustainability stakeholders. The monthly meetings, titled “Insights & Input,” provide frequent opportunities for staff and stakeholders with an advanced knowledge of sustainability, to discuss the County’s ongoing sustainability efforts, hear new ideas, and talk through challenges, leverage existing resources, and brainstorm future opportunities. The feedback received from Insights & Input is valued and integrated into staff’s work. Tangible examples include shaping the County’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Ready Ordinance; Sustainability Action Plan; focus of community event programming; and substance of the Sustainability Summit. Attendance varies, with regular Insights & Input participants representing a diverse cross section of the community including Sustainable Tallahassee, Rethink Energy Florida, the Big Bend Sierra Club, and engaged citizens. The student members of GenCLEO are an ideal participant. Insights & Input meetings have strengthened trust, added transparency, and enhanced engagement between the community and Leon County.
Creation of a standalone Youth Advisory Committee for ages 7-29, would detract from the collaboration already occurring with area stakeholders. Furthermore, the Insights & Input collective would benefit from a diversity of age and additional perspectives offered by GenCLEO members. GenCLEO has been invited to actively participate through Insights & Input, which is the existing forum positioned to promote the vision of GenCLEO. Finally, a standalone committee, solely focused on youth, is not in alignment with GenCLEO’s stated priority of collective involvement.
The County’s sustainability program is firmly built upon citizen and stakeholder engagement as noted below. Ongoing opportunities currently exist for youth to be integrated and make an impactful presence alongside stakeholders of various ages. As stated by GenCLEO in the group’s draft Resolution, it takes collective involvement to make change:
“Leon County recognizes that the full participation, inclusion, support, and leadership of community organizations, faith communities, youth, labor organizations, academic institutions, indigenous groups, and racial, gender, family, immigrant, and disability justice organizations and other allies are integral to the climate emergency response and mobilization efforts.”
In addition to scheduled Insights & Input gatherings, the County consistently engages with individuals throughout the course of routine daily work benefiting from perspectives, experiences, and ideas of others when crafting programming, outreach, and policy.
As the County has a proven track record in the realm of sustainability, and a clear and actionable plan for ongoing progress through the Integrated Sustainability Action Plan (ISAP), a duplicative committee is not advantageous. Ranging from transportation to food systems, the ISAP includes aspirational goals shaped by the in-depth engagement of over 200 citizens. The GenCLEO membership is a collaborative partner that can help extend the reach of programming. One such example discussed with GenCLEO members is the upcoming Sustainability Summit. The perspective of GenCLEO in helping to shape presentation material, guest speakers, and broaden outreach to expand community participation would be valuable. These opportunities freely exist without the need for a formal committee.
Furthermore, GenCLEO proposes that the Youth Advisory Committee provide scientific research and be invited to present at Commission meetings. County staff directly connect to expertise and best practices in the ever-expanding field of sustainability through peer and professional collaboration on the local, state, and national levels. Regarding participation in public meetings, this ability readily exists for all citizens at every Commission meeting.
In light of existing forums and open access to shape the County’s sustainability programming and initiatives, a standalone youth committee would have a net detraction from the momentum and collaboration already occurring. To avoid duplication of existing efforts, the proposed Resolution (Attachment #1) which embraces integrated youth participation rather than a siloed committee, is recommended.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Impact Statement - The proposed Resolution also contains a directive to include a GHG impact statement on relevant agenda items. A periodic inventory of GHG emissions resulting from County operations already occurs in alignment with United Nations standards. Programmatic progress impacting emissions reduction is provided to the Board on an annual basis. The inventory ensures that the County identifies ambitious but achievable emissions reduction goals and provides quantifiable evidence that the County reaches those goals. The ability to quantify the impact of individual agenda items in a defensible method is often impractical; however, efforts can be made to provide review of GHG impacts within the agenda analysis section on topics which pose a substantial GHG impact.
Continued engagement with GenCLEO and other stakeholders ensures the ongoing success of the County’s sustainability program. As noted in the proposed Resolution, actionable and achievable impacts require a collaborative and diverse approach.
As previously noted, GenCLEO also submitted for Board consideration their own draft climate declaration (Attachment #2). The group’s draft is identical to the proposed Resolution, with the inclusion of the creation of a Youth Advisory Committee. Staff did not include this element in the recommended Resolution (Attachment #1) as it would be duplicative of existing stakeholder engagement efforts by the County.
Conclusion
Over the past months the County has coordinated closely with GenCLEO, sharing details of the County’s Sustainability program and discussing each element of the proposed Resolution in detail. The recommended Resolution addresses all objectives of the GenCLEO group except for the creation of a Youth Advisory Committee.
Diversity and inclusion are central to the GenCLEO mission and a noted theme throughout the proposed Resolution. The GenCLEO proposed declaration includes the establishment of a standalone Youth Climate Advisory Committee for ages 7-29, to provide a forum to engage with and shape the County’s sustainability efforts. Fortunately, the County has an existing forum well positioned to achieve the vision of GenCLEO known as “Insights & Input.” To avoid duplication, GenCLEO membership has been invited to join the Insights & Input group, thereby leveraging existing opportunities for youth to be integrated and make an impactful presence alongside stakeholders of various ages. Space to interact and impact the County’s pursuit of sustainability is not limited to formal gatherings, but are imbedded throughout the course of routine daily work as well. As the opportunity to meaningfully engage with a diverse group freely exists without a formal committee, the creation of a youth committee is unnecessary. A proposed Resolution declaring a climate emergency is recommended which embraces integrating youth participation rather than endorsing a siloed committee (Attachment #1).
As recommended, the proposed Resolution achieves GenCLEO’s vision of declaring a “climate emergency” and calling for mitigating action to occur as quickly as 2030. Continued County action includes supporting native plants, water quality and the local food movement. With GenCLEO’s active participation in the Insights & Input group, area youth will be better postured to make an impact.
Options:
Recommendation:
Option #1
Attachments: