Strategic Climate Action Plan

2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan

King County updated its Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) in 2020.

King County’s SCAP is updated every 5 years to reflect the County’s continuous learning approach to climate action. The updates to the 2020 SCAP were rooted in the understanding that climate change is an urgent local and global challenge and that climate change is a threat multiplier that creates complex challenges, particularly for communities affected by historic and current inequities. 

There were 3 key sections:

• Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Sustainable and Resilient Frontline Communities 
• Preparing for Climate Change

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

This section includes commitments and performance measures to reduce GHG emissions countywide and from County government operations. Focus areas were determined based on major GHG emissions sources and opportunities for reductions and carbon sequestration. All focus areas include commitments that advance both GHG emissions reductions and racial justice and equity, as part of the SCAP’s commitment to lead with this guiding principle.

Many targets and commitments in this section were co-developed with partners of the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C). These actions are also reflected in the K4C’s Joint Climate Action Commitments (2019) which represent a shared vision for countywide progress to reduce GHG emissions. Countywide targets also build on technical analysis completed to support the 2020 SCAP that assessed recent trends in countywide GHG emissions and identified major opportunities for reductions.

Sustainable and Resilient Frontline Communities (SRFC)

As part of King County’s commitments to action on climate change and equity and social justice, the 2020 SCAP includes a new section focused on climate equity and community-driven policy. 

The SRFC framework was developed through a community-driven process where leaders of frontline communities, as part of the Climate Equity Community Task Force (CECTF), established the goals and identified the priority areas for climate action based on climate justice values and community needs. Frontline communities are those communities that often experience the earliest and most acute impacts of climate change, face historic and current inequities, and have limited resources and/or capacity to adapt. The CECTF identified eight focus areas that offer pathways to a more equitable and just climate future for all — a future and vision that is emergent from the unique lived experiences of frontline communities across King County. 

Preparing for Climate Change

This section identifies climate preparedness actions, organized under a new strategic framework that help King County government and communities prepare for the impacts of climate change and increase climate resilience. The actions represent important next steps in an ongoing and necessary pivot toward becoming a more climate-resilient King County. 

King County’s climate preparedness actions address a range of climate impacts, including those related to heavier rain events, hotter summers, lower snowpack, increased flooding, sea level rise, and changes in the potential for wildfire. Because climate change exacerbates many existing environmental, health, and safety challenges, the actions the County takes now to prepare for climate change will also create near-term benefits. 

A key objective in the 2020 climate preparedness section is mainstreaming climate action by making it part of daily work at King County. Climate preparedness will be operationalized through the development of methods and guidelines that incorporate climate considerations into day-today agency processes such as policy development, strategic planning, capital planning, and project implementation. 

2023 Biennial Update

The 2023 Biennial Update: King County’s 2020 Strategic Action Climate Plan provides an update on all commitments made in the 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan. It includes status updates on all priority actions and updated data on performance measures. The status report paints a familiar picture: the County is working to reduce emissions, leading on climate equity, and preparing for the impacts of climate change but we need to do more to invest in the County and community we want to leave to future generations. 

The report provides updates on strategies, priority actions, and performance measures across the 3 sections of the 2020 SCAP, while adding a short update on the recently adopted Green Jobs Strategy. 

Each of the four sections is organized in the following format:

• Accomplishments: Provides a high-level summary of key accomplishments for the Section since adoption of the 2020 SCAP.
• Looking Ahead: Includes a snapshot of key priorities and issues looking ahead to the next two years.
• Measuring Progress and Performance: Includes a dashboard of overall performance ratings for all priority actions, an update on each priority action across the section focus areas, and updated data on performance measures. 

As part of King County’s 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan, King County staff worked with technical and community partners to convene a Joint Aircraft Emission Technical and Community Task Force aimed at beginning to address climate emissions and non-CO2 warming around airport communities across King County. The Joint Aircraft Emissions Technical & Community Task Force Report outlines key considerations and high-level recommendations in this hard to decarbonize sector.

Other King County climate plans and reports

• King County Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories
• 2019 Carbon Neutral Implementation Plan (1 MB)
  The new Carbon Neutral Implementation Plan recommends that King County’s 2020 Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) establish new stronger goals for government operations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25% by 2020, 50% by 2025 and 80% by 2030.
• Blueprint for Addressing Climate Change and Health (2 MB)
  Public Health – Seattle & King County developed a Blueprint for Addressing Climate change and health which describes the impacts of climate change on people in our region. It is intended to be used as a tool for putting people at the center of the climate change conversation.
• 2018 King County Renewable Electricity Transition Pathways
  King County, in coordination with community, utility, and local government stakeholders, developed a study that outlines policies and investments to achieve a goal of 90% renewable electricity supply county-wide by 2030.
• 2018 King County Operational Cost of Carbon Report
  This report develops an internal ‘cost of carbon’ to be used in government processes and decision-making and summarizes guidance for County agencies on how to use this information to inform analysis of capital projects, major fuel and vehicle purchases, resource efficiency investments, and other County operations decisions.
• 2017 Strategic Climate Action Plan Biennial Report – Measuring our Progress
• 2015 King County Strategic Climate Action Plan
• 2012 Strategic Climate Action Plan
• 2010 King County Energy Plan