County Releases the 2022 Climate Action Progress Annual Report

09/26/23

The County reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through sustainability actions implemented across several County departments. The recently released 2022 Climate Action Progress Annual Report shows the County has continued to make climate action progress through implementation of 2018 Climate Action Plan measures.

In 2022, the County reduced 228,213 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of GHG emissions through the implementation of measures within the built environment & transportation, energy, solid waste, agriculture & conservation, and water & wastewater emissions sectors.

2022 Action and Progress Highlights

In 2022, County employee teleworking and alternate schedules avoided 36.5 million miles of commuting, and electricity consumption was reduced at its facilities by 46%. Also, in the unincorporated area, 3,913 trees were planted, and more than 1,000 acres of open space were conserved. The 2022 accomplishments account for more than 25% of the 2018 Climate Action Plan’s 2030 emissions reduction goal.

EV charging

For the fifth year in a row, the County's climate action measures have performed better than anticipated, including the acquisition of open space and agricultural easements, tree planting initiatives and rain barrel equivalent programs, emissions associated with fuel consumed by County fleet vehicles, and solar photovoltaic energy generated at County facilities.

In the past five years, the County conserved 8,766 acres of open space and 2,135 acres of farmland, planted more than 30,000 trees, created 369 miles of bike lanes, added 56 public electric vehicle charging stations, installed solar photovoltaic systems on an equivalent of 80,821 homes, and distributed 10,493 rain barrels.

Read the 2022 Climate Action Progress Annual Report to learn more about these efforts and other ways the County is working to ensure a sustainable and just future for our community.

In addition to these GHG emission reductions, the County continued to involve the community and make progress on other sustainability-related efforts such as implementation of the Electric Vehicle Roadmap and updates to the Climate Action Plan (CAP). The County is currently working on developing the Regional Decarbonization Framework that will plan for a zero-carbon future for San Diego.

To learn more about the CAP Update and get involved, visit our project website and follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.