Cities were more likely to focus on aesthetically “green” policies, like tree-planting, over “gray” policies, like denser development and affordable housing, that might do more to address equity issues in some cities and could help to reduce emissions from transportation.
A new study led by UC Santa Cruz found that most California cities still have a long way to go in addressing equity as part of their climate action plans, and researchers identified common pitfalls that may be holding back progress on these efforts.
The research team analyzed 170 climate action plans, developed by cities across California, that offer policy strategies for addressing the impacts of climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with state targets. This type of planning has the potential to transform cities, either reducing or worsening social and economic inequalities in the process. And poor communities and communities of color within cities are often most vulnerable to climate change impacts like extreme heat and flooding. The new study set out to determine how cities were incorporating these types of considerations into their planning.
While more cities are making stated commitments to equity in their climate action plans now than in the past, the analysis showed that the vast majority still lack meaningful discussion of these issues in substantive policy terms.
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