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LA Council votes to explore creating climate budget
Environment Feb 22, 2023
Aerial view of downtown Los Angeles. | Photo by Venti Views on Unsplash
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The City Council voted Wednesday to explore creating a climate budget for Los Angeles.
Citing a need to align the city’s budget with its climate goals, the council approved a motion filed by Council President Paul Krekorian that seeks reliable data regarding greenhouse gas emissions to help Los Angeles reach its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.
The motion asked for the Bureau of Sanitation and the Environment to present a greenhouse gas emissions inventory to the council, which would be used to inform the city’s budget process. It also sought to establish a climate impact team to support the preparation of investment plans.
Other major cities, such as Barcelona, Montreal and Oslo have some form of climate budget, according to the motion. Los Angeles also tracks expenditures regarding homelessness with a dedicated team and the Homelessness Non-Departmental Schedule, the motion states.
“Our city must similarly organize and invest to meet the needs of the climate crisis and institutionalize its decarbonization goals into the administration of the city budget,” the motion reads.
Krekorian said during Wednesday’s meeting that he felt it was time to integrate the city’s climate priorities into its budget.
Other goals in the motion include seeking for the city administrative officer to create a climate impact team to ensure the city is “accurately and transparently tracking our climate investments and doing it thoughtfully, in a way that will have the most impact as well,” according to Krekorian.
The motion also seeks to evaluate whether the city can expedite its goal of achieving carbon neutrality in government operations by 2035 rather than 2045.
