Natural Environment

Palo Alto is committed to an approach to sustainability that includes not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also enhancing quality of life, the natural environment, and resilience to natural disasters. In order to foster a robust urban ecosystem, Palo Alto seeks to expand, enhance, and maintain its urban forest, green stormwater infrastructure, and open spaces.

Examples of the multiple benefits our natural environment provides include:

Trees in our urban forest sequester (absorb and store) carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and also mitigate the elevated temperatures that cities experience due in part to paved surfaces.
Restoration of wetlands can both sequester carbon and protect against sea level rise.
Green stormwater infrastructure protects water quality by filtering runoff from streets and parking lots, and also provides habitat for pollinators.

The City of Palo Alto has almost 4,000 acres of open space to explore, recreate, and relax in.

Natural Environment and the S/CAP

The Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) guides Palo Alto's sustainability and emissions reduction strategy. The goals and key actions for the Natural Environment in the S/CAP address maintaining and protecting the City's tree canopy, restoring and enhancing biodiversity, and expanding green stormwater infrastructure to protect the San Francisco Bay. Many actions to protect our natural environment also reduce or sequester greenhouse gasses, which is in line with our ambitious emissions reduction goals.

Goals

Restore and enhance resilience and biodiversity of our natural environment throughout the City
Increase tree canopy to 40% city-wide coverage by 2030
Increase land area that uses green stormwater infrastructure to treat urban water runoff