Question: What is the cost to explore the feasibility of a carbon budget for the City? How would a carbon budget help the city better understand the emissions reduction requirements and cost necessary to meet net zero? (Mayor Gaskins)
Response:
Carbon budgets can take a variety of forms but generally are designed to create bounds within which City programs can operate to ensure they’re achieving the carbon reduction goals in the City. The City’s Environmental Action Plan 2040 (EAP 2040) and Energy & Climate Change Action Plan (ECCAP) set several similar targets, including greenhouse gas emissions reductions, energy efficiency targets, and more.
Developing a new Carbon Budget for the City would require hiring a contractor to develop a carbon inventory, processes for developing budget requests and examining carbon impacts for each Department and allocating specific carbon budgets for different program areas. This is likely to be a similar cost to the development of the ECCAP, which was approximately $120,000.