FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2020
Contact: Peter Nierengarten
Environment Director
479-575-8272
pnierengarten@fayetteville-ar.gov
Fayetteville Named One of 105 Cities Globally to Score “A” for Leading Climate Change
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— The City of Fayetteville has been recognized as a global leader on environmental action and transparency, achieving a place on CDP’s Cities A List. This year’s list includes 105 cities across the globe with 34 cities in the United States.
CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, is a global non-profit organization that provides a platform for governments and companies to measure, manage, and disclose their environmental data. CDP publishes its Cities A List to demonstrate how cities are stepping up to the helm, leading on transparency and ambitious environmental action. In 2019, CDP scored cities A (Leadership), B (Management), C (Awareness), and D (Disclosure) based on the completeness and quality of their data, as well as the level of action taken. Last year, 43 cities were recognized for their environmental leadership and transparency, compared to 105 this year – 65% of which are new arrivals.
To score an A, a city must have a city-wide emissions inventory, have set an emissions reduction target, have published a climate action plan and have completed a climate adaptation plan to demonstrate how it will tackle climate hazards now and in the future.
Fayetteville has been recognized for its actions in the last reporting year to develop robust climate change strategies, track and act to limit and reduce emissions, assess and mitigate climate risks, and transparently report this information in its 2019 disclosure to CDP.
In 2018, Fayetteville City Council voted 7-1 to adopt its Energy Action Plan, the first in Arkansas and the 54th city to sign on to Sierra Club’s 100% Clean Energy goal. The plan is structured around one overarching goal, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for activities occurring in Fayetteville. The plan outlines strategies, goals, and actions in transportation, energy supply, buildings, waste, and cross-sector activities. Fayetteville’s energy supply goals are to achieve 100% local government clean energy by 2030 and 100% community-wide clean energy by 2050. Fayetteville took a huge step toward reaching these goals with its two solar farms when they were connected to the nation’s electrical grid in September 2019. The City’s two wastewater treatment plants are its greatest consumers of electricity, making up approximately 67% of the City’s overall consumption. The new solar arrays will generate approximately 18.3 million kWh/yr. of clean energy, offsetting approximately 103% of the plants’ usage, increasing the City’s clean energy use from 16% to 72%.
The City tracks is energy use and emissions, issuing an annual report each summer. Fayetteville’s various master plans, such as the Alternative Transportation Plan and the Recycling and Trash Master Plan, include efforts to become an energy efficient city and build a legacy of climate stewardship.
“Congratulations to Fayetteville,” said Katie Walsh, Head of Cities, States and Regions for CDP North America. “It’s exciting to see the U.S. and Canada leading with the most A List Cities this year — 34 and 7 respectively. They are demonstrating how municipal governments can safeguard citizens in the face of our new environmental reality and build a climate-safe future. We look forward to seeing other cities follow the lead of Fayetteville and other cities on our A List.”
“It is through our hard work and making contentious decisions that we find our City on this international list,” said Mayor Lioneld Jordan. “I want to thank our City Council, our staff, community leaders, businesses, and our residents who are taking large and small steps to address climate change. Fayetteville will continue to lead by example. Every action counts.”
To learn more about the City of Fayetteville’s actions to address climate change and read the Energy Action Plan, please visit this webpage.
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