Sustainability Actions and Accomplishments

Climate Action

• The City launched the Youth Climate Advisory Board, an advisory body of high school students dedicated to environmental sustainability and climate stewardship. The inaugural board of eleven high school students attending schools in Palo Alto convened in September 2024.
• On April 21, 2024, the City hosted the first city-wide Palo Alto Earth Day Festival at Rinconada Library with games, giveaways, and resources to help residents and businesses take environmental action. Booths and tables included information on how to electrify your home, choose sustainable transportation, protect our water supply, live a zero waste lifestyle, and protect pollinators. Other highlights included a cooking demo with an Award-Winning Chef on an induction cooktop with back-up battery, an upcycled Art Show, and an electric waste truck.

Energy

• In February 2024, the City launched the Spring Forward, Ca$h Back(PDF, 2MB) business rebate program to encourage local businesses to participate in the Business Energy Advisor (BEA) Program. As part of the program, the City boosted all efficiency incentives by 20% for BEA customers who completed projects by May 31st, 2024.
• In September, the City launched an Emergency Water Heater Replacement program. The program helps residents replace their gas waterheater with a heat pump water heater during an emergency while restoring hot water within 48 hours.
• The City co-sponsored Acterra's 2024 Electric Home Tour, which highlighted a variety of electric homes in Palo Alto, as well as throughout the Peninsula and South Bay. Attendees had the opportunity to explore the latest in home electrification, including heat pump water heaters, heat pumps for both heating and cooling, induction cooktops, electric dryers, fireplaces, and electric gardening tools.

Electric Vehicles

• The City received delivery of 17 new Chevy Bolt electric vehicles, 1 Tesla Model 3, and 1 Rivian R1S, which replaced internal combustion engine fleet vehicles. There are now 35 electric vehicles (EVs) in the City fleet, or about 15% of the passenger vehicles and light duty trucks and vans.
• There are currently 111 City-owned electric vehicle chargers, with a total of 146 charging ports. 25 of those chargers are dedicated to City vehicles, while the rest are primarily for public use.

Mobility

• The City invited the public to review and comment on the draft Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan (SS4A) between December 2024 and March 2025. Improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users is key to reducing vehicle miles traveled.
• In another SS4A accomplishment, the City received a second grant for the plan that will be used to implement the South Palo Alto Bikeways Demonstration Project.
• Starting in March 2024, teenagers can now ride the Palo Alto Link to specific destinations supporting teen mental health and wellbeing for free.
• In January, City Council reviewed a Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan Update, which intends to update the plan with consideration of community needs and desires as well as recent trends in bicycling and bicycle and pedestrian planning, and design.
• In a joint session on April 15, 2024, the Planning & Transportation Commission and the City Council readopted the sixth cycle 2023-2031Housing Element. The California Department of Housing and Community Development certified the Housing Element in August 2024.
• The City began the Downtown Housing Plan preparation process with the goal of increasing housing while ensuring that the downtown area continues to be an attractive local and regional destination. The Plan will help implement programs of the Housing Element by establishing policies and development standards, and will plan for the public infrastructure necessary to support increased housing.
• The City continued to lay the groundwork for commencing the San Antonio Road Area Plan process, which envisions cohesive mixed-use neighborhoods with improved mobility and interconnectivity that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

Natural Environment

• In February, the City launched the Canopy Tree Plotter, a collaboration with Canopy.  This online resource  enhances tree planting and tree care management, explores the benefits trees provide, and enables users to share tree stewardship activities.

Climate Adaptation and Sea Level Rise

• In January, City Council authorized improvements to the Palo Alto Baylands as part of the Horizontal Levee Pilot Project. The horizontal levee will be a nature-based, multi-beneficial alternative to traditional greyscape solutions for wave attenuation on the bayside of a flood control levee near Byxbee Park. Since 2017, the City has collaborated with the Association of Bay Area Governments to design Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot.

Zero Waste

• The City Zero Waste  office developed a new outreach campaign to educate the community about the importance of food waste reduction and connect it to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The campaign includes a call to action (“Strategize, Organize, Prioritize”) as well as new print and electronic advertisements in the local newspapers, outreach signs for waste collection vehicles, and social media content.  A new weekly community outreach e-newsletter  – The Zero Waste Minute – also provides recipients with reduce, reuse, repair tips, and essential tools to tackle the complex waste challenges our community is dedicated to solving.   
• Zero Waste Palo Alto launched a first of its kind outreach initiative offering waste reduction resources for businesses.
• The City conducted proactive outreach and collaboration with project managers, helping 60 buildings complete the deconstruction process in 2024. This participation resulted in approximately 7,450 tons or 93% of the building materials being salvaged for reuse or recycling, compared with only 548 tons (7%) of materials being landfilled! Since the Deconstruction Ordinance went into effect in July 2020, over 170 buildings have gone through the deconstruction process, resulting in 20,800 tons (93%) of building materials salvaged for reuse or recycle.
• In an important step toward consistent implementation of SB 1383 (reducing emissions through composting organic waste), the City approved a memorandum of understanding for a countywide food recovery program. The program includes a countywide edible food recovery program and sharing program costs based on the number of edible food generators within each city.

• In June, City Council adopted the 2022 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan(PDF, 6MB), certified the Comprehensive Plan Environmental Impact Report Addendum: Update to the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan(PDF, 943KB), and accepted the 2023-2025 S/CAP Workplan(PDF, 741KB). The S/CAP is a roadmap to reduce the City’s and community’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while also guiding land and natural resource use to ensure quality of life for future generations.
• Palo Alto earned a spot on environmental impact non-profit, CDP's 2023 Cities A List for our bold leadership on climate action, ambition, and transparency. Of the almost 1,000 local governments across the globe that were scored, just 119 received an A.
• In February, the Full Service Heat Pump Water Heater Pilot Program began offering free, expert help for residents to get permits, installers, and rebates worth thousands of dollars to install a better water heater.
• In the first year of the Full Service Heat Pump Water Heater Program, 154 water heater installs were completed through the program, with another 176 installs scheduled. In addition, 44 residents have installed heat pump water heaters on their own, receiving a rebate from the City.
• Staff held 32 Electric Vehicle (EV) and e-bike workshops and events in 2023, attracting over 1,700 attendees. Events included twelve in-person EV expos and e-bike test rides, financial incentives clinics in multiple languages, e-bike workshops, and discount campaigns.
• In March, the City of Palo Alto's Office of Transportation launched Palo Alto Link - the City’s new easy, affordable, and eco-friendly rideshare service.
• In the six months since its launch, Palo Alto Link had completed 23,700 rides with over 2,960 unique riders. These rides have led to an estimated 43% reduction in CO2 emissions assuming passengers are choosing Link in lieu of high-emissions private single occupancy vehicles to complete the same trip.
• Staff began design of the first grid modernization project (upgrade of the neighborhood bounded by Highway 101, Embarcadero, Louis, and Amarillo) with construction to be completed in early 2024.  
• The design and finance plan for a salt removal facility for the Regional Water Quality Control Plant have been completed.  This facility will help improve the quality of the recycled water produced at the plant. In September, Council approved going out to bid for construction in 2024.
• Zero Waste Palo Alto launched a new Zero Waste Living outreach campaign to educate residents on how to reduce waste around the house, when shopping, at work, and in the garden.
• In May, the 2023-2031 Palo Alto Housing element was adopted by City Council. The City also initiated a Downton Housing Plan process, both of which will likely contribute to reduced vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and S/CAP Mobility goals.
• As of December 2023, nine multi-family properties representing about 4% of all multi-family units in Palo Alto have installed EV chargers facilitated through the City's EV programs, with another active 17 sites in the pipeline representing 955 units, or 8% of Palo Alto multi-family units.
• In December, Staff received delivery of 13 new Chevy Bolt Electric Vehicles, for a total of 27 EVs in the city fleet.
• Staff created a new interactive sustainability dashboard to show progress on our S/CAP goals. The Sustainability Dashboard is a living tool the City uses to communicate sustainability goals and progress to our community. 
• The City of Palo Alto's Office of Sustainability partnered with students from the Sustainable Cities course at Stanford University to conduct a survey to determine Palo Altan’s awareness of and ability to act on our sustainability goals.

• Palo Alto emitted an estimated 410,157 metric tons (MT) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) from the residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, waste, water, and municipal sectors. In comparison to the 1990 base year emissions, that is a 47.4% decrease in total community emissions, despite a population increase of 21.3% during that same time period. This equates to 6.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO2e) per Palo Alto resident in 2022 compared to 14 MT CO2e per Palo Alto resident in 1990. The California Air Resources Board’s 2017 Scoping Plan Update recommends a goal for local governments of 6 MT C02e per capita by 2030. 
  
• In October, City Council passed an ambitious carbon neutrality by 2030 goal, building on the City's existing goal of cutting emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2030.
• Palo Alto earned a spot on environmental impact non-profit, CDP's 2022 Cities A List. Palo Alto is recognized as one of 122 cities on the list taking bold leadership on environmental impact and transparency. Of the over 1,000 local governments scored by CDP in 2022, only 12% received an A. A List Cities must disclose publicly through CDP-ICLEI Track and have a community-wide emissions inventory, among other actions. 
• The Full Service Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) Pilot Program was approved by Council in September. The program will make it easier and more affordable for residents to switch to a HPWH, with a goal of replacing 1,000 gas water heaters. If fully subscribed, the program will reduce emissions by about 800 MT CO2e per year. Site visits for the program are projected to begin in early 2023.
• City Council passed the 2022 updates to the Green building Ordinance and Energy Reach Codes (referred to as "Reach Codes"). These carry over the requirements of the 2019 Reach Codes, with additional requirements in the areas of building electrification, EV infrastructure, water efficiency, and embodied carbon in building materials. The Reach Codes will go into effect in January 2023, and collectively will avoid over 3,420 MT CO2e per year.
• In September, City Council accepted the S/CAP Goals and Key Actions(PDF, 760KB). This document incorporates extensive community feedback and guidance from the S/CAP Ad Hoc Committee, and is meant to be a high-level road map to achieving Palo Alto's 80 x 30 goal. Council acceptance of the S/CAP Goals and Key Actions allowed staff to commence California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) evaluation of the full S/CAP.
• In July, the City initiated a "One Water" planning effort. The One Water Plan will serve as a long-term guide to better prepare for future uncertainties like multi-year drought, climate change, and more. 
• The Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment was completed which will inform the development of a Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan.
• In June, City Council adopted an updated Tree Ordinance that expands tree protection to include additional protected tree species, roughly tripling the number of trees that would be classified as "protected" and imposes new requirements for developers seeking to remove these trees. The updated Tree Ordinance went into effect on July 21, 2022.
• Palo Alto received an Honorable Mention in the “Small City Category” of the 2022 Climate Protection Awards from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The award winners are the 16th class of mayors to be honored for successful local climate action, changing how energy is used and produced in cities resulting in reduced carbon use and emissions. Palo Alto’s mayor received the award at the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s 90th Annual meeting in Reno, Nevada on June 3 and spoke on the panel, EVs and Cities: Early Lessons from Public and Private Sector Deployments. The Mayor and Palo Alto City staff were recognized for the Multifamily Gas Furnace to Heat Pump Retrofit Pilot(PDF, 4MB). 
• City of Palo Alto Utilities completed the Multifamily Gas Furnace to Heat Pump Retrofit Pilot(PDF, 4MB), which aimed to identify viable retrofit options and validate the cost and benefits of retrofitting existing gas furnace systems with energy efficient electric heat pump alternatives at an affordable 24-unit multifamily apartment complex. The pilot provided direct benefits to residents through improved indoor air quality and bill savings, as well as increased comfort and safety. At the community level, the pilot will reduce the City’s greenhouse gas emissions and serves as a case study for future electrification projects in multifamily buildings. 
•  Palo Alto was accredited by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA for the 35th year, and as a Tree Line USA electric utility for the 7th consecutive year. The Tree City USA program recognizes cities that help care for and increase our urban tree canopy. Our urban forest provides numerous benefits to our community including cooler temperatures, cleaner air, higher property values, and healthier residents.
• In partnership with the local organization, Grassroots Ecology, the City continued to update the 12 bioretention areas along Castilleja Avenue, Sequoia Avenue, and Miramonte Avenue as part of the Southgate Beautification and Re-Greening Project. The Green Streets Stewards Program was initiated to help community members maintain and care for the sites to ensure long-term success.

• Palo Alto emitted an estimated 359,312 metric tons (MT) or carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) from the residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, waste, water, and municipal sectors. In comparison to the 1990 base year emissions of 780,119 MT CO2e, that is a 53.9 percent decrease in total community emissions, despite a population increase of 19.5 percent during that same time period. This equates to 5.4 MT CO2e per Palo Alto resident in 2021 compared to 14 MT CO2e per Palo Alto resident in 1990. The California Air Resources Board's (CARB) 2017 Scoping Plan Update recommends local governments achieve a goal of 6 MT CO2e per capita by 2030.
• Launched an update to the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) to develop the strategies needed to meet our sustainability goals, including our goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 (the “80 x 30” goal).
• Formed an S/CAP Ad Hoc Committee to guide the development, implementation, and communication of the S/CAP and to engage with a stakeholder group of domain experts and community activists.
• Completed an Impact Analysis(PDF, 377KB) of the goals and key actions needed to achieve 80 x 30, including the development of Buildings, Vehicle Emissions, Mobility, EV, and Finance Models and accompanying technical memos.
• Palo Alto received the League of American Bicyclists’ Gold-Level Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) Award in recognition of the years of work our transportation professionals, bike advocates, and residents have put in to creating transportation and recreational resources that benefit residents of all ages and abilities while encouraging healthier and more sustainable transportation choices. Palo Alto is one of 34 Gold Level BFCs out of a total of 487 BFCs nationwide.
• The Office of Transportation launched the South Palo Alto Bikeways Project - the biggest protected bike lane project in town so far. The South Palo Alto Bikeways project proposes bicycle facility improvements for the Waverley Multi-Use Path on Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) land, Fabian Way, and East Meadow Drive. This project invests in the city’s bicycle network to provide safer infrastructure for students commuting to school via bicycle and encourages mode shift to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The project was awarded federal funds for construction and will initiate the construction phase in 2023.
• In March 2021, City of Palo Alto Utilities launched a new Business Advantage Program to help small and medium business customers save energy, money, and improve indoor air quality. The program provides businesses with a free Energy Management System, a cloud-based energy management portal, and free MERV-13 air filters to improve indoor air quality. As of December 2021, over 50 systems have been installed.
• In May, Council approved the updated 10-year electric efficiency goals between 2022 and 2031(PDF, 446KB). The estimated energy savings in 2031 based on these goals is around 4.4% of the City’s total electric load.
• Utilities completed a report on the Impact of Decarbonization on the Resiliency of Single Family Homes in Palo Alto(PDF, 2MB). The report found that while electrical systems are susceptible to short, local power outages caused by typical annual weather events, the restoration time for electrical services is significantly faster than natural gas services in major outage scenarios such as earthquakes.
• In November of 2021, City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) was recognized with a leadership award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its refrigerator recycling program. CPAU was among 14 partners who were recognized for reducing ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through insulation foam recovery, significant growth of an appliance recycling program, and demonstrating a notable commitment to advancing the goals of the Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) program. Since becoming a RAD Partner in 2009, Palo Alto Utilities has processed a total of 1,232 units, reducing GHG emissions equivalent to those from 1,330 homes' energy use for one year.
• Palo Alto has partnered with MidPen Housing in a pilot to replace the gas furnaces at Page Mill Court, a low-income multifamily apartment complex, with efficient heat pump systems. The pilot was funded by a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). The retrofit work was completed for all 24 apartment units in December.
• City of Palo Alto Utilities was recently announced a designee of the American Public Power Association Smart Energy Provider (SEP) Award for the third year in a row. The SEP designation recognizes public power utilities for demonstrating leading practices in four key disciplines: smart energy program structure; energy efficiency and distributed energy programs; environmental and sustainability initiatives; and the customer experience.
• Completed the Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment
• Public Works Watershed Protection developed Sea Level Rise Curricula for ages K-5 in partnership with Grassroots Ecology
• Collaborated with Santa Clara County and other jurisdictions to evaluate the State’s new SB1383, Short-Lived Climate Pollutants requirements and drafted a new ordinance on an Edible Food Recovery Program for food service establishments, the process of how the food donations will occur and a county wide outreach for the food services establishments and food recovery organization; developed a work plan and checklist to ensure the city is in compliance with the many regulation requirements and exploring how the new procurement requirements of recovered organic waste products will be met.
• Collaborated on a “Serve-It-Safe” reuse pilot with Upstream, Dishcraft and Tootsie’s for the use of reusable dine-in and take-out reusable food containers. Pilot active at Tootsie’s café at the Stanford Barn
• Received a $1.2 million Environmental Protection Agency grant to green Parking Lot A in downtown Palo Alto by retrofitting with green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) elements. The Project will capture 80% of the runoff from the treatment area, provide 282,000 gallons per year of stormwater retention on average, reduce PCBs and mercury pollution entering the Bay and capture 1.9-2.8 million particles/year of microplastics which would otherwise enter creeks or the Bay. 
• Palo Alto was selected as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the 34th year! The Tree City USA program recognizes cities that help care for and increase our urban tree canopy. Our urban forest provides numerous benefits to our community including cooler temperatures, cleaner air, higher property values, and healthier residents. 
• Completed a new, year-round bicycle and pedestrian overcrossing over Highway 101 at Adobe Creek near the City’s southern border. The new Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bike Bridge connects the community all year round to amenities like the Baylands Golf Links, hiking and biking the Baylands Nature Preserve, experiencing Byxbee Park, connecting to the San Francisco Bay Trail, and so much more.
• The Office of Emergency Services was awarded a $200,000 State Homeland Security Grant, which was used to purchase a custom-built Solar Generator Trailer (SGT). The SGT is an important resource for the City to provide electric power to the Mobile Emergency Operations Center (MEOC) and other critical systems that require electricity to operate.

• 2024 Q2 and Q3 S/CAP Progress Report and 2023 Annual Report on Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (SCAP) Implementation Progress(PDF, 496KB)
• 2024 Q1 S/CAP Progress Report(PDF, 165KB)
• 2023 Q4 S/CAP Progress Report(PDF, 177KB)
• 2023 Q3 S/CAP Progress Report(PDF, 2MB)

• 2023 Earth Day Report(PDF, 14MB) (Included in 6/05 Council Meeting) 
  • 2021 GHG Inventory(PDF, 439KB) (1990 vs. 2021 GHG Emissions table(PDF, 49KB))
• 2022 Earth Day Report(PDF, 699KB) (4/11 Council Meeting Presentation Slides(PDF, 2MB))
  • Corrected 2020 GHG Inventory(PDF, 354KB)
• 2021 Earth Day Report(PDF, 1MB) (4/19 Council Meeting Presentation Slides(PDF, 2MB))
• 2020 Earth Day Report(PDF, 661KB)
• 2019 Earth Day Report(PDF, 2MB)
• 2018 Earth Day Report(PDF, 5MB)
• 2017 Earth Day Report(PDF, 4MB)
• 2016 Earth Day Report(PDF, 1MB)
• 2015 Earth Day Report(PDF, 3MB)
• 2014 Earth Day Report(PDF, 4MB)
• 2013 Earth Day Report(PDF, 446KB)
• 2012 Earth Day Report(PDF, 246KB)
• 2011 Earth Day Report(PDF, 242KB)
• 2010 Earth Day Report(PDF, 1MB)