19-33 Climate Action Plan Resolution

Home Browse Search

Filed in Clerk's Office BILL NO. 19-33 APR 17 2019 RESOLUTION NO. KAREEMAH FOWLER CITY CLERK,SOUTH BEND,IN A RESOLUTION OF THE SOUTH BEND COMMON COUNCIL CONCERNING CLIMATE RECOVERY AND OUR COMMITMENT TO DEVELOP A CLIMATE ACTION PLAN AIMED AT GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTIONS FOR THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND AND TO SUPPORT OTHER CLIMATE RELATED INITIATIVES. WHEREAS, scientific consensus concludes that it is extremely likely that the dominant cause of ongoing climate change is the emission of heat-trapping gases by human actions, primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels; and the more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, the warmer our planet gets. Per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), carbon has not been this highly concentrated in the atmosphere in the past 800,000 years; in fact, according to NOAA, the last five years, 2014-2018, are the warmest years ever recorded I; and WHEREAS, in 1988,NASA's Dr. James Hanson testified before Congress on the impending perils of climate change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)was established by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Association, and has since released five climate assessments with each affirming: the planet is getting warmer and humans are causing it through our carbon emissions, and unless we reduce emissions, there are serious environmental consequences in our future. Both the 1997 Kyoto Protocol2 and the 2015 Parisi Agreement challenged nations to reduce greenhouse emissions and thereby, limit climate change, and the 2019 IPCC report just released in January advocates for policies aimed at temperature targets under one point five (1.5) degrees Celsius, and further acknowledged that the impact of even a one point five (1.5) degrees Celsius rise will pose drastic impact on the Earth's ecosystems and inhabitants4; and WHEREAS, climate change already poses risks at the global, state, and local level, impacts evidenced around the world are: changes in precipitation(intensification of both drought and storm effects), ocean acidification, coral reef degradation, loss of species,threats to marine life and biodiversity, rising sea levels threatening food supplies and livelihoods, and forced emigration of coastal populations. In addition, extreme weather events, temperatures, and air pollutants can acutely impact human health. The elderly, young, homeless, and people with chronic diseases, or respiratory illnesses (such as asthma) are particularly sensitive to extreme temperatures contributing to increase hospital visits, health care costs, and mortality. Another 1 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/02/2018-fourth-warmest-year-ever-noaa-nasa- reports/ 2 UNFCCC(1997) Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted at COP3 in Kyoto,Japan on 11 December 1997 https://unfccc.int/resource/bigpicture/#content-the-paris-agreement 4 https://www.ipcc.ch/ A