City of Cleveland

At a Glance

Industry

Government/Public Administration

Project Types

Clean and Renewable Energy, Data Analysis, Engagement and Behavior Change, Zero Emission Vehicles, Freight and Logistics, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy

Year

2020

Location

Cleveland, OH

Summary

Matthew Jones was tasked with updating Cleveland's Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and analyzing GHG emissions trends.

Goals

The City of Cleveland’s 2018 Climate Action Plan (CAP) update set a commitment to 100% renewable energy and 80% reduction in climate change inducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Mayor Frank Jackson’s Office of Sustainability has developed an ongoing partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Summer Fellowship program to enlist early career sustainability professionals to help the city achieve its sustainability priorities. The 2020 Fellow, Matthew Jones, was primarily tasked with updating the city’s Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and analyzing GHG emissions trends.

Solutions

Cleveland also signed on to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Energy and Climate (GCoM), another international organization dedicated to building sustainability and climate action in cities around the world. GCoM has recognized Cleveland for its efforts in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and for expanding access to clean and renewable energy. To continue this tradition of top-grade reporting and compliance, Matthew updated the GHG inventory with new data through 2018 and verified the emissions calculations back to the baseline year of 2010. Matthew worked closely with The Brendle Group, a third-party firm of sustainability professionals, to ensure best practices were used in the GHG calculation methodology and GCoM’s framework. He also nurtured relationships with businesses in the transportation, energy, industrial and other sectors with significant GHG impacts to gather the best data available and to analyze changes in production and emissions.   

Impact

In addition to the quantitative inventory analysis, the CDP report also includes identification of climate change risks, mitigation and adaptation strategies. Cleveland will see continued extreme precipitation, heat waves, and flooding, as climate change intensifies. To counter these impacts, the city and its community partners are enacting a number of mitigation and adaptation strategies, such as adopting a 100% Renewable Electricity by 2050 goal, Tree Plan to reverse the trend of deforestation towards an increased urban tree canopy, and effective stormwater management to improve the sewer system to mitigate flooding and combined sewer overflow (CSO) events.

The city is leading by example with its Sustainable Cleveland Municipal Action Plan (SC-MAP) to accelerate sustainability efforts in its municipal operations. Matthew analyzed 2018/2019 trends in GHG emissions associated with municipal operations, where emissions have gone down since the baseline year of 2010. Decreased electricity demand and the cleaner electric grid are largely driving this trend.

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