The 2024 report found significant emissions reductions in municipal operations and the community compared to 2010 levels
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the release of the 2024 Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory (GHGI), an important step toward the sequential development of a consolidated municipal and community Climate Action Plan. These efforts are a part of the City’s recently launched Sustainable Syracuse Initiative and its commitment to develop a comprehensive and strategic list of actions for city government and the Syracuse community to implement around sustainability.
The City of Syracuse has been tracking Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions since 2002 as part of its ongoing efforts to mitigate and prepare for the impacts of climate change. The City took a second inventory in 2007 and another in 2010 which informed the development of the City’s 2012 Sustainability Plan, an aspect of the Comprehensive Plan 2040. The findings from the 2010 GHGI provided information the City needed to set emission reduction targets of 40% for municipal operations and 7% for the community by 2020. The 2024 GHGI report found emissions reductions of 67% for municipal operations and 29% for the community compared to the 2010 emissions, exceeding the targets by a wide margin.
“The Syracuse community should be proud of these results and the collective work that went into achieving these unprecedented measures,” said Mayor Walsh. “These reductions stem from years of private and public investments in climate resiliency. With this updated GHGI report, we can build on these findings with new and existing partners to make Syracuse a more sustainable and prosperous community for all.”
The 2024 GHGI report, funded in part by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Climate Smart Communities Program and completed by C&S Companies, required a collaborative approach between multiple City departments, National Grid, and both community and government agencies to help collect the data.
According to the report, the City’s reduced carbon footprint was the result of major shifts in operations coupled with many other small but significant actions to reduce energy and fuel consumption. The City’s conversion to LED streetlights and traffic signals, implementation of a refrigerant management system, procurement of fuel-efficient vehicles, optimization of waste collection routes, and the expansion of the Urban Forestry Program all played a role in municipal emission reductions.
The findings also revealed the community emission reductions can be attributed to National Grid sourcing its electricity from renewable energy sources, the purchase of more fuel-efficient vehicles, the utilization of micro-mobility opportunities emerging within city-limits, and commercial and household investment in green technologies such as LED lightbulbs, heat pumps, and the installation of solar panels. In addition to reducing GHG emissions, these efforts all contribute to lowering energy costs.
The City’s next steps toward sustainability progress includes the creation of a data-informed Climate Action Plan to promote the pursuit of net-zero emissions and climate resiliency within city-limits. There will be four public meetings in the Fall of 2025 followed by a public commenting period.
To learn more about the 2024 GHGI and the Sustainable Syracuse Initiative, visit syr.gov/sustainable-syracuse.