A Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) is a roadmap that outlines the actions that Yolo County will take to meet greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals and help our community be more resilient to climate impacts such as higher temperatures, more frequent wildfires and floods, and drought.
In September 2020, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved a Climate Emergency Declaration that set the goal of meeting a carbon-negative footprint by 2030 while ensuring a just transition to an inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and resilient local economy. Driven by public input, the CAAP includes recommendations for how we can lower emissions, protect our natural resources, use more renewable energy, support sustainable agricultural practices that are already thriving here in Yolo County, and more. The CAAP is designed to benefit all community members and to promote health, equity, and resilience in all processes and outcomes.
A Just Transition is a vision-led, unifying, and place-based set of principles, processes, and practices that empower and build social and economic opportunity and wellbeing among historically disadvantaged populations. This transition balances the urgency of necessary changes with the commitment to sustainable and just realignments. This transition incorporates the perspectives of all individuals and groups, particularly marginalized groups, to ensure that climate solutions meet the needs of the community at large. A Just Transition strikes a balance between the speed of necessary changes while still promoting necessary, sustainable, and just realignments.
The term “Just Transition” was coined by union laborers and environmental justice advocates who recognized that reductions in GHG emissions (i.e., deindustrialization processes) often exacerbated the socioeconomic inequities experienced by low-income communities and communities of color because these communities were frequently employed by high-carbon-emitting industries. The County used the term “Just Transition” in its 2020 Climate Emergency Declaration to describe the rapid mobilization of resources directed at climate change action and adaptation.
Climate adaptation refers to the actions taken to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change. It involves adjusting and planning for the potential changes in temperature, precipitation, sea level, extreme weather events, and other climate variables to reduce vulnerabilities and increase resilience.
Resiliency, in the context of climate change, is the ability of individuals, communities, systems, institutions, and businesses to withstand, recover, and thrive in the face of climate change and chronic stress. It involves building systems and structures that can absorb and adapt to the changes brought about by climate change, while also preparing for future impacts.
This means that Yolo County will remove more carbon from the atmosphere than we produce. We will do this by reducing our emissions, while also supporting practices that increase the amount of carbon stored in our soils (also known as carbon sequestration).
Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2) in soils. Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels, forest fires, and respiration. Plants can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and some of that carbon is stored (or sequestered) in soils. With a goal of meeting a carbon negative footprint by 2030, practices that increase carbon sequestration must be part of our climate solution!
The CAAP includes estimates of carbon sequestration from natural and working lands, including the sequestration potential of adopting various agricultural and land management practices.
The CAAP specifically covers the unincorporated area of Yolo County (the area outside of our four cities), and our outreach is focused on the unincorporated area and communities that have historically been excluded from planning processes. However, Yolo County coordinated closely with the Cities of Davis, West Sacramento, Winters, and Woodland; the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation; UC Davis; and other partners to align goals and projects in our planning process.
Sign up for the Yolo Sustainability Newsletter by visiting this link. The County will be providing updates throughout the CAAP implementation process, and will share important information, opportunities to participate, helpful resources, progress updates, and more. You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook!