Boston is on a path to miss its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, according to the inaugural Boston Climate Progress Report.
If that fact wasn't sobering enough, the researchers noted that Boston's interim climate goals set for the year 2030, concerning community emission, is also off track by approximately five years.
“Boston is one of the few cities that assesses its progress on how well it is achieving the goals of climate action,” Northeastern professor Joan Fitzgerald, lead author of the report, said in a presentation Thursday.
She noted other climate-focused polities like Vancouver, B.C., and California are also behind on climate goals.
Naturally, these observations undergirded a pressing question: How do cities with aggressive and comprehensive plans still come up short? The answer is simple: Cities can’t act unilaterally.
“Cities do not have the authority to act on many of the decisions and changes that need to be made to get to net zero,” explained Fitzgerald. “They need state and federal policy to support their actions, and there are a lot of conflicting interests among all the actors that need to be on board.”
The report, issued by the Boston Foundation, identifies privately owned land as a central difficulty in protecting the Massachusetts coastline. And even though some developers are seeking solutions — such as flood protection — pursuing those solutions in a piecemeal manner is counterintuitive to an approach to climate action that benefits the entire area.
Still, the report identifies that even when the action is in the hands of the state, there is frustrating inefficiency. Depending on the project, there are several governments to deal with, and even more agencies and bureaus.
An example was given in the case of South Boston’s Joe Moakley Park, near Carson Beach. A proposed redesign of the park would benefit its coastal resiliency, but the obstacles to completion are many. A list of agencies involved includes bureaus and divisions of both the state-run Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department.
In response to the byzantine navigation currently required to implement any changes, the report emphasized the need to streamline the process. One suggestion was the creation of a Coastal Defense Agency that would have the authority to plan and execute relevant projects.
The report and discussion, though, did contain notes for cautious optimism. These included pending legislation for a Boston Green New Deal and the recent passage of Bill H.5060, which included investments in offshore wind energy and electric vehicle infrastructure.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the agencies involved in the Moakley Park redesign.
