Mayor Michelle Wu announced Boston’s 2030 Climate Action Plan Monday, which aims to cut Boston’s greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. 

The plan, which is a collaborative effort between Boston businesses and institutions, seeks to build decarbonization, improve access to sustainable transportation, invest in coastal resilience and expand green workforce development.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, backed by the city’s first chief climate officer, Brian Swett, answers an audience question following her announcement of the 2030 Climate Action Plan at LoPresti Park in East Boston. The initiative aims to fight climate change by reducing community greenhouse emissions by 50% by 2030. (SUMMER LAROSE)

Boston is currently on track to cut emissions by 48%, Wu said at the East Boston community event. The action plan will allow the city to take a “first step” to hit the 50% goal in four years, she said.

“The first steps are the easiest ones, and then every additional percentage towards the end gets harder and harder to do,” Wu said. “It is about coming up with new ideas that would not be possible for city government to implement on its own.”

The event took place at LoPresti Park, a coastal neighborhood Wu said was vulnerable to flooding, extreme heat and the “existential threat” of unaddressed climate change. 

“[The plan] brings together mitigation and resilience in one place, recognizing that we need to reduce emissions, while also protecting our residents right now… and more importantly, it puts climate justice at its center,” said Boston City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata. 

After city officials and partners delivered speeches, Tree Eastie — an East Boston community-based urban forestry nonprofit — ceremonially planted 10 trees.

Wu helps plant a tree during a ceremony in collaboration with urban forestry program Tree Eastie, surrounded by some of the event’s speakers. (SUMMER LAROSE)

“It’s really important that when we fight for a future that is climate action, it is also about economic justice,” said Massachusetts State Sen. Lydia Edwards. “Outdoors and beauty should be free.”

Boston intends “to chart the path forward” as a model for other cities, especially as the federal government fails to address the climate crisis, Wu said.

“Instead of selling out our communities for the financial gain of a few, this plan is designed to build a better future for all of our neighborhoods and to tap into the opportunity that represents cities across the country and around the world,” she said.

Joel Wool, sustainability and capital transformation deputy administrator for the Boston Housing Authority, said the city’s environmental leadership and Wu are “really clear-eyed” about executing their goals and implementing the Climate Action Plan.

“There’s a lot of inconsistencies as federal administrations turn over,” Wool said. “What’s critical here is there’s this recognition that these are things we have to do — they are material related, not just to the atmosphere, but to the air, the conditions of our buildings, the ability to be able to live and thrive.”

Wool said he is confident the city will meet its 2030 goals but recognizes that more resources will be necessary to make further progress.

“We have challenges of climate resiliency and housing affordability that are overlaid, and we have gaps that we cannot fill alone,” Wool said. “But it doesn’t mean you sit on the sidelines while you’re trying to figure out how to get it done.”

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