For the third year in a row, Cleveland Heights observed Climate Action Day with a series of presentations by the City Sustainability and Resiliency Coordinator, Andy Boateng, held at the Heights Library and City Hall.
In their opening remarks, Mayor Tony Cuda and Administrator Sharon Dumas indicated that, “Climate action is not just about reducing emissions—it’s about building a community that thrives. It’s about improving air quality, creating safer and greener streets, and ensuring that our local economy grows in ways that protect both people and the planet.”
Coordinator Boateng provided provided updates on the city’s implementation of the Climate Forward Plan, which was adopted in early 2025, and the significance of the City’s efforts in addressing climate change and its impacts at the local scale. He started with an overview of the current climate science which confirms the earth’s temperature has risen by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century, contributing to an 8-inch rise in global sea levels.
“It’s not debatable or subject to personal interpretation; there is overwhelming evidence and consensus in the scientific community that climate change and its impacts pose an existential threat to humans and urban communities,” Boateng said, who added, We’re experiencing these impacts to human life and infrastructure due to heat waves, flooding, extreme precipitation, severe thunderstorms, and so on, in our communities and it is therefore critical that we intensify our efforts to address it.”
Urban areas contribute significantly to climate change; producing over 70% of global heat-trapping and emitting gases from activities such as energy use, transportation, waste generation and handling, and so on. The urban space is also susceptible to the impacts of climate change, which continues to threaten human life, ecosystems, businesses and infrastructure.
In order to meet these challenges, it is incumbent upon cities and individuals to act in a coordinated manner. In Cleveland Heights that translated the city and its residents co-creating the city’s Climate Action and Resiliency or Climate Forward Plan in 2024, and supporting its implementation.
“There is a local component to every global phenomenon such as climate change,” Boateng said. “Cities are the cause and of climate change and also have the power and responsibility to address it equitably to protect their residents. Global leadership starts local, and addressing climate change locally is a smart investment.”
An emissions inventory conducted as part of the Climate Forward Plan found that electricity and natural gas and stationary combustion accounted for 35% and 15% of the total 5,752 MTCO2e emissions inventoried from municipal operations, respectively.
Community-wide emissions inventory found that Residential Energy and Transportation and Mobile Sources were the lead sectors; accounting for 60% and 17% of the total 286,633 MT CO2e inventoried.To reduce its carbon emissions and achieve the community-wide goal of 30% reduction by 2030, the City embarked on several efforts. Some of these include the ongoing energy savings performance contract with Leopardo Energy which has led to energy efficiency upgrades at our buildings and facilities and projected to reduce our carbon footprint by4,228,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, the equivalent to removing 427 cars from the road..
In addition, reducing emissions from vehicle use is a priority identified in the Climate Forward Plan; transportation is the second largest source of emissions municipal operations, accounting for 33 percent of the total. The city continues to replace gas-powered fleet vehicles with over 20 electric vehicles,, a move that will have cost and emissions savings.
Overall, the City is pursuing 27 High Priority Strategies with the Planning and Buildings Department – including the continued replacement of indoor and outdoor lighting at City facilities with energy efficient alternatives, such as motion-sensor lights and LEDs. This emphasizes the expansion of the deployment of solar, and other renewable energy options at city-owned properties, such as solar canopies.
The City is also pursuing 5 High Priority strategies with the Public Works Department which includes the development of pilot program to offer a recycling program to areas with “recycling deserts” including the business districts. Pursuant to that, the city launched City launched a pilot composting program in September, where more than 400 households are signed up and already contributing to diverting 3,279 pounds of food waste (in its first month) from a landfill. A business recycling pilot program was recently launched, with four sites across the city’s business districts to collect paper and cardboard.
To incentivize the participation of businesses in the city’s green initiatives, the city plans to launch a Green Business Certification program, which will have immense benefits to the business community – economically, environmentally and socially.
The City is currently embarking on a Tree Canopy Assessment, an analysis to provide a baseline for future data-driven Urban Forestry Master Plans, justifying resource allocation, and achieving climate action goals.
“I want to express my gratitude to the community for the continued participation in the co-creation of the Climate Forward Plan and its implementation. The City’s leadership remains committed to building resilience and recognizes the varied roles that you play to make this a reality. Certainly, it take a village to build resilience to climate change equitably.