City Level Climate Action: Lessons learned translating science into policy

Abstract:

Climate change is happened regardless of whether or not we have the courage to act on it. After the current United States administration communicated their intensions to leave the 2015 Paris agreement, cities stepped up to the challenge. Many American mayors declared that they wanted to take leadership on climate where the federal and, in some cases, state governments have not acted. However, many cities do not have funding or staffing to translate aspirational political promises into meaningful climate action. In an effort to help translate my knowledge about climate change science into action, I recently joined my city’s (Columbia, South Carolina) Climate Protection Action Committee. After six months on the committee, they elected me as chairwoman. While this particular committee was established in 2008, over the past decade it has focused more on recycling and assessing city emissions than develop plans to adapt to a warmer world or emission reduction strategies. Under my leadership, the committee has committed to write a climate action plan to delivery to the city in December 2020. Here, I will convey the lessons I have learned translating my academic knowledge into civic engagement.