Climate Action Plan

• Download Burien Climate Action Plan
• Download Appendix A: Community Engagement

What is Climate Change?

Climate change is a shift in regional and global patterns largely attributed to the increased levels of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Climate is the “average” weather for certain areas, whereas weather reflects short-term conditions like day-to-day or season-to-season. For example, the Puget Sound regional climate typically has dry summers, winter rains, and mild temperatures year-round. The Puget Sound is starting to see the effects of climate change through increased air temperatures and larger rainfall events.

Tackling climate change is not only vital for the local environment but our community as well. Climate change amplifies current and historical inequities, putting communities with the least amount of resources at the highest risk from the impacts.

2019 Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory

A greenhouse gas is a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change effects. Since many of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions are directly or indirectly controlled through local policies, local governments have a strong role to play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions within their boundaries. The first step toward achieving tangible greenhouse gas emissions reductions requires identifying baseline emissions levels and sources and activities generating emissions in the community. This inventory presents emissions from the Burien community as a whole.

2019 greenhouse gas inventory highlights:

• Accounting for about 48% of total community-wide emissions, the transportation sector was the largest source of emissions in 2019. Transportation emissions were calculated from daily average vehicle miles traveled (VMT) modeling results provided by Puget Sound Regional Council for cars and trucks.
• Energy emissions are calculated from electricity and natural gas consumption from both residential homes and commercial buildings in Burien.
• Solid waste emissions are derived from tonnage reports detailing the amount of waste sent to the regional landfill from Burien.

Read more in Burien Magazine

• Community Invited to Shape Climate Action Plan (March 21, 2021)
• Climate Change and COVID-19 (September 28, 2020)

K4C

In late 2019, the Burien City Council adopted the updated King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C) joint letter of commitment which establishes GHG emissions reduction targets for county-wide sources by at least 50 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050, compared to a 2007 baseline.

Factsheet

• Burien Climate Action Plan (PDF)
• Plan de acción climática de Burien (PDF)
• Kế Hoạch Hành Động Khí Hậu Burien (PDF)

Staff worked with a group of fifteen community members that provided strategic advice on community engagement and helped foster and build strong relationships with the broader Burien community around the Burien Climate Action Plan. Members of the group served as ambassadors to the Burien Climate Action Plan and supported the dissemination of communication materials around ways to get involved.

The Community Advisory Group provided support to the Burien Climate Action Plan in the following ways:

• Defined the vision and priorities for the Burien Climate Action Plan.
• Provided strategic input on draft strategies and actions.
• Provided strategic input on the implementation of the Climate Action Plan strategies and actions.