Portland has been in the avant-garde of climate mitigation since adopting its climate action plan in 1993, which has been followed by an updated 2015 plan, and a 2022 Climate Emergency Workplan. “People move to Portland for that environmental ethic – to be in a city that's close to nature, that has an urban growth boundary that prevents sprawl,” says Diesner.
But the progress made presents new challenges to responding to climate change today. “So much of the low-hanging fruit, the easier things, the incentives, the voluntary changes, has already been put in place. We're getting to a point where each of the things we have to do ahead of us are much heavier and more challenging to do,” says Diesner.
One of the challenges with prioritising action on the climate is that there are many other competing issues. Diesner cites challenges like homelessness, housing affordability and crime in Portland. To support more climate commitments, cities need buy-in from residents and businesses – and this often requires evidence. Some of the strongest evidence comes through data, and Portland has turned to data-driven tools from C40 Cities and Qlik to help shape their efforts.
“Fortunately, we have been able to use data to help tell that story. Since 1993, we've been tracking our local carbon emissions, and we've seen those emissions decline,” says Diesner. “Today, they're 25% below where they were in 1990, even though we've added about 39% more people.”
Other cities are following Portland’s lead. Faced with similar challenges of how to prioritise their actions, they need data to be accessible and understandable.
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