Taking on climate change locally throughKing County-Cities Climate CollaborationLocal governments to leverage resources,

collaborate on local sustainability efforts

2015 International Congress for the Environment – Xi’an, China

Steering Committee 

Matt Kuharic, King County • Nicole Sanders, Snoqualmie

• Cathy Beam, Redmond

Rika Cecil, ShorelineMike Grady, Mercer Island

Brandon Miles, TukwilaSheida Sahandy, Bellevue

Kris Sorensen, RentonDavid Barnes, Kirkland

•Recognize that many cities are taking sustainability and climate action seriously, including the 19 (~half) of King County cities that have signed on to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement

The Pledge and MOU provide for a partnership to collaborate on climate issues via the following:

• Outreach

• Coordination

• Solutions

• Funding and resources

This will help us to refine our messaging, standardize our climate goals & strategies, share local successes & data, and collaborate to secure grant funding.

What is the Pledge about?

Pledge Detail•Provide an overview of the King County-Cities Climate Pledge. Highlight key focus areas:

Outreach: Developing and refining messaging and framing for climate change outreach for decision makers, city staff, and the general public.

Coordination: Collaborating on adopting consistent standards, benchmarks, strategies, and overall goals related to responding to climate change.

Solutions: Sharing local success stories and challenges as well as cost/benefit analyses to support and enhance climate mitigation efforts by all partners.

Funding and resources: Collaborating on securing grant funding and other shared resource opportunities to support implementation of climate related projects and programs.

This is the only climate collaboration whose efforts are focused solely on King County-based efforts.

• Specific to our community• It is being led by the cities• Focused on supporting city projects, programs and sharing resources• Action-oriented

Distinct from Other Efforts

Roundtable Schedule2011

http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/greenbuilding/roundtable.asp

There are other key existing efforts this work will move to support, such as:

• ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability - 5 milestone program

• U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement

• Washington State Climate Targets

Staff support and networking will tell us who has done what & why, help us stay informed on our neighbors’ efforts, and move forward on coordinated action.

Supports Existing Efforts

We have established sustainable Cities Roundtables to networking on climate issues among City Staff, elected and public.

Currently, we encourage joining the program, joining in the effort of getting other King County Cities onboard, and participating in the Roundtables.

We are working to integrate with a carbon measuring software so “apples to apples” are being tracked measured among member agencies.

Initial Plans

Moving forward, we will:

• Create a local directory of solutions, resources, technical experts and consultants with climate expertise.

• Document and share best practices and lessons learned from local projects

• Help define county-wide climate goals and track local progress

• Support the commitments and the pledges signed by Mayors of the member cities

• To join the Collaboration, a Mayor or City Manager signs the Pledge & MOU.

• The Agreement becomes effective when at least eight King County Cities pledge staff time and a combined minimum of $9,000.

• A supermajority vote of 75% of the City and County Representatives must approve the annual Scope of Work; all Cities and the County will participate if this 75% vote is achieved.

• Fiscal pledge is paid yearly; automatically renews after a window period.

• Cities may opt in at any time, and opt out preceding the annual renewal date.

Logistics of Joining

Principles and Commitments

Commitment

7 Commitments

7 Commitments

7 Commitments

7 Commitments

City pledge amounts are set by population tiers.

Population Pledge• Under 5,000 $500• 5,000 – 19,999 $700• 20,000 – 39,999 $1,200• 40,000 – 64,999 $2,000• Over 65,000 $2,500• Over 250,000 $5,000• King County $10,000

Pledge Tiers

Questions ?

For more information, please contact:

Matt Kuharic, Senior Climate Change SpecialistKing County Dept of Natural Resources andParks Director's Office(206) 296-8738 (office)matt.kuharic@kingcounty.gov Web: http://www.kingcounty.gov/climate

Nicole Sanders, Associate PlannerCity of Snoqualmie Planning Department(425) 888-5337 x.1143NSanders@ci.snoqualmie.wa.us