Shoreline City Council affirms support for principles of Paris Climate Accord

On June 19, the City Council passed a resolution affirming the City’s support for the principles of the Paris Climate Accord. The goals of the Paris Climate Accord are in alignment with the City’s environmental sustainability goals, and the City Council affirms that climate change is occurring and has accelerated due to human activity.

The City’s Climate Action Plan, adopted by the Council in 2013, has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Shoreline by 50 percent below 2007 levels by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050.

The United States, along with 195 other nations, entered into the Climate Accord in 2015 with the goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, the United States pledged to cut emissions between 26 and 28 percent compared with 2005 levels by 2025.

The withdrawal of the United States from the Climate Accord has been met with disappointment from many local and state governmental entities, along with concerns from many corporations, the scientific community, and from countries around the world.

Many organizations are signing onto letters expressing their support for the Climate Accord. The City has partnered with King County and many other jurisdictions to coordinate and enhance climate action efforts.

Council’s Resolution also provides direction to the Mayor to sign onto the ‘We Are Still In’ and ‘#Cities4Climate’ initiatives, which are national efforts affirming and supporting the Paris Climate Accord. 

ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), the World Wildlife Federation, Climate Mayors, C40, Urban Sustainability Director’s Network, and other sustainability organizations are coordinating the We Are Still In coalition. The other effort, #Cities4Climate, is an initiative of the National League of Cities (NLC), of which Shoreline is member, and includes the ability to sign onto a letter embracing the principles of the Paris Climate Accord.