Minneapolis Declares 'Climate Emergency'

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis has declared a climate emergency that demands a massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse and address climate change. According to the city, the declaration "recognizes that climate change is already affecting people’s lives, health, livelihoods, and access to food and shelter with record heat, extreme storms and wildfires, droughts and floods, and other destructive effects in Minnesota and worldwide."

By declaring climate emergencies, city officials say governments around the world are bringing awareness to the need to mobilize resources at a scale and speed sufficient to protect civilization, the economy, people, species and ecosystems.

Minneapolis lawmakers noted that in November 2019, more than 11,000 scientists came out in favor of labeling climate change as an emergency.

"Climate change is impacting everything from our ability to put food on the table to what Minneapolis residents pay for infrastructure repairs," said Mayor Jacob Frey in statement.

"By declaring a climate emergency, our city officially recognizes the severity of the climate crisis and challenges us as policymakers to take stronger climate action."

"I believe we need to take this step because we are in a climate emergency, and it is past time for us to start acting with the urgency that this crisis demands," said the resolution’s co-author, Council Member Cam Gordon.

"Going on record in this way provides further rationale for increasing local action to fight the climate crisis. And it will, I hope, be the first step towards adopting a Green New Deal for Minneapolis as soon as possible."

With the climate emergency declaration, the city commits to:

• Establishing a “social cost of carbon”: a scientific, monetary measurement of greenhouse gas emissions’ damages to human health, food production, homes and businesses, and energy costs.
• Establishing a Sustainable Building Policy to ensure that buildings constructed with the help of the City are as energy efficient as possible. Building energy use causes 73 percent of the pollution that causes climate change, according to a news release from the city.
• Demonstrating climate actions that bring more cities and more people along.
• Pushing for an advanced building energy performance standard in a coalition of cities statewide.

In its climate emergency declaration, Minneapolis joins the U.S. House of Representatives; youth organizations including Minnesota Climate Strike, Sierra Club Northstar Chapter, Extinction Rebellion and IMatter; scientists and more than 900 jurisdictions in 18 countries worldwide including the European Union.