Climate change is here, but not all in Seattle bear the burden equally, with lower income and communities of color hit first and worst by drought, flooding, air pollution, extreme heat, and more. The One Seattle Climate Justice Agenda centers those most impacted by systemic racism and disproportionate impacts of climate change to ensure that everyone in Seattle, regardless of race, neighborhood, income, or age, can prosper and thrive together. With its community-centered approach, the agenda takes bold action to meet the scale of the climate crisis, address long-standing inequities, and help build a healthy, sustainable city for all residents.

The agenda is centered around three focus areas: building an equitable clean energy economy, ensuring a just transition away from fossil fuels, and investing in healthy, resilient, and well-connected communities.

Building An Equitable Clean Energy Economy: Seattle is determined to be a leader in clean energy by creating new career pathways and opportunities to retrain or transition from fossil fuel jobs. This Climate Justice Agenda will advance new clean energy workforce development opportunities, pre-apprentice scholarships, small business support through Green New Deal investments to open the green economy to all and create new opportunities for communities harmed by environmental injustices.

Ensuring A Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: The Climate Justice Agenda will drive innovative efforts to equitably transition City resources to renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the buildings and transportation sector, develop electrification incentives, and create healthy workplaces and homes. This includes tracking neighborhood-level emissions through the Office of Sustainability and the Environment’s One Seattle Climate Portal to identify disparities and create more effective policies and programs that drive progress in the communities hardest hit by the climate crisis.

Investing in Healthy, Resilient, Well-Connected Communities: All residents deserve access to clean air, fresh water, and a healthy community and environment. The Climate Justice Agenda will develop resilience hubs to coordinate resources and services that keep neighbors safe and connected during extreme climate events like heat and smoke, protect Seattle’s tree canopy and urban forests which are critical infrastructure and provide essential benefits, and make investments in our city’s food system to increase access to locally grown, culturally relevant foods.