LOS ANGELES — The City Council approved a motion Friday calling on several departments to develop a climate action and adaptation plan to codify green efforts and guide the city forward.
The council members voted 14-0, with Councilwoman Nithya Raman absent during the vote, to support an amended motion introduced by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky.
Her motion substituted a similar motion introduced by Council President Paul Krekorian on Oct. 20. According to Yaroslavsky, her substitute motion has “support from all relevant parties” and is meant to make clear that “we’re moving forward with developing a climate action plan for consideration in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.”
Leo Daube, spokesman for Yaroslavsky’s office, told City News Service that the main reason the motion was brought forward is because many of the city’s green policies are not codified into law.
LA’s Green New Deal, for example, launched by former Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2019, which outlines goals for the city’s sustainable future and addresses climate emergency — set targets and policy recommendations, but are not legally binding.
“What this motion does, it calls for a plan to be developed that then can be turned into ordinance, so that there are legal requirements for the city to meet,” Daube said.
According to Yaroslavsky’s office, the plan will take time to be finalized, and city officials may look to identify funds in the upcoming budget process for the creation of the climate action plan. In subsequent years, once the plan is complete, it will aid in policymaking and decision making, and consolidate the city’s green efforts.
In a report from April 26, the Department of City Planning described climate action and adaption planning as a “critical aspect of how cities must now approach their future growth and development strategies.”
A climate action and adaption plan, however, is defined as a “comprehensive planning document outlining a city’s…
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