The Climate Compass is the name for the update to the City of Elk Grove’s 2019 Climate Action Plan (CAP) to be bolder and more ambitious than before. It is a comprehensive and transformative roadmap for addressing climate change while supporting the City’s broader sustainability and resilience goals.

The purpose of the Climate Compass is to identify measures and approaches that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and help the City adapt to the current impacts of climate change. It serves to guide City staff in implementing climate, sustainability, and resilience goals that meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The City intends to develop the Climate Compass to be consistent with State GHG reduction targets such as the statewide carbon neutrality target and as a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)-qualified CAP.

Mitigation is the process of lessening heat trapping GHG emissions that contribute to climate change. Using baselines GHG emission calculations, the City can project future GHG emissions to help develop targets and strategies intended to reduce future emissions. Strategies can include decreasing where these GHG gases come from, like reducing the burning fossil fuels for energy, or enhancing the places that store these gases, like better managing urban forests and soil.

Adaptation refers to the process of assessing and responding to climate change's current and future impacts. The City can measure its adaptive capacity to respond to these impacts by assessing climate-related hazards and pinpointing vulnerabilities to develop effective strategies. Adaptation strategies will include efforts to improve community resilience and help prepare for climate hazards like extreme weather events, wildfires, increased temperatures, flooding, and drought.

A CEQA-qualified CAP is one that meets State requirements so that future development projects requiring CEQA can streamline GHG impact analyses by demonstrating consistency with the CAP. It will allow for consistency in the GHG reducing and climate adaptation features that are included as part of the design of new development projects.

Demonstrating compliance with a CEQA-qualified CAP provides a simple, clear, and defensible option for project-level analyses to determine that its incremental contribution is not cumulatively considerable. This approach is supported and recommended by the California Air Resources Board, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, multiple local air districts, and has been reinforced through CEQA case law.

The Climate Compass will contain measures (i.e., policies) supporting reduced energy consumption in buildings, which can lead to substantial cost savings for residents that participate. It will provide alternative transportation options through non-motorized travel modes, reduce the number of vehicles on the roads, and support the electrification of vehicles so that less emissions occur. The plan also identifies strategies to address climate vulnerabilities to reduce climate impacts from extreme weather events, temperature increases, wildfires, flooding, and drought.

A successful CAP will rely on collaboration with residents, business owners, community leaders, and advocates in underserved communities. The Climate Compass should reflect the Elk Grove community’s priorities and vision, so it is important that we hear from as much of our community as possible to ensure climate risks or potential recommendations are not overlooked, as well as reducing the potential for unintended consequences of proposed measures.

Sign up for periodic updates at the top of this page. The City will be hosting online community workshops, in-person pop-up events, and focus group meetings and will continue to update the website with pertinent information and opportunities to comment on draft documents. Thank you for taking the time to be part of the Climate Compass development process!

Both! The City has branded the update to its 2019 CAP as Climate Compass: A Plan for Implementing Elk Grove’s Climate, Sustainability, and Resilience Goals.