21.231 A Resolution Declaring a Climate Emergency - Certified City of Northampton
MASSACHUSETTS
In the City Council, April 1, 2021
Upon the Recommendation of: Councilor Karen Foster
Councilor Rachel Maiore
Councilor Alex Jarrett
R-21.231
A RESOLUTION DECLARING A CLIMATE EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, in a world facing the extreme challenges of rapid climate change, Northampton
residents understand the importance of protecting the Earth and its inhabitants; can envision a
better, sustainable future; and can create and execute bold plans for a prosperous economy
and a thriving community; and
WHEREAS, progress toward this future is underway in Massachusetts, which is among national
leaders on climate initiatives with over 100,000 jobs in the state’s clean energy sector1 and
named a top energy efficient state for the past decade by the American Council for an Energy-
Efficient Economy; and
WHEREAS, Northampton has an engaged City government and has undertaken a number of
important steps on climate and the environment, (such as the Sustainable Northampton
Comprehensive Plan and the Climate Resilience and Regeneration Plan), such that the City is
well placed to implement the critical transition away from fossil fuels and to advance a robust,
carbon-free, equitable economy and the improved health and quality of life that will result; and
WHEREAS, on April 22, 2016, world leaders from 175 countries recognized the threat of climate
change and the urgent need to combat it by signing the Paris Agreement, agreeing to keep
warming “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and to “pursue efforts to limit the
temperature increase to 1.5°C” and Mayor David J. Narkewicz committed to the Paris Accord on
behalf of Northampton; and
1O’Brien, Kelly J. “Clean energy jobs top 100,000 for first time in Mass., according to new report,” Boston
Business Journal. Dec. 15, 2016. https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2016/12/15/clean-energy-
jobs-top-100-000-for-first-time-in.html
WHEREAS, marginalized populations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and worldwide,
including people of color, immigrants, indigenous communities, low-income individuals, people
with disabilities, and the unhoused are already disproportionately affected by climate change,
and will continue to bear an excessive burden as temperatures increase, oceans rise, and
natural disasters worsen; and
WHEREAS, nearly 400 cities, districts and counties across the world collectively representing
over 34 million people have recently declared or officially acknowledged the existence of a
global Climate Emergency, including over 20 Massachusetts cities and towns such as Boston,
Lexington, Acton, and 11 towns on Cape Cod; and
WHEREAS, declaring the climate crisis as an emergency is a crucial first step for aligning
residents around the urgency of the global climate breakdown; and
WHEREAS, declaring that the climate crisis is an emergency demonstrates that our government
agencies acknowledge that addressing climate change will require an emergency response at
emergency speed; and
WHEREAS, the crisis caused by climate change also presents a major opportunity to invest in
healthy energy, transportation, land-use, and agriculture systems that will deliver both
immediate and sustained benefits to all and reduce future risks from climate change;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of Northampton affirms that human
activity caused the climate crisis and that fossil fuels are the primary cause;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of Northampton hereby declares that a Climate
Emergency threatens our city, state, and nation, as well as humanity broadly, and that a
mobilization to meet this challenge is both a moral imperative and an unprecedented
opportunity to stabilize the climate, remedy environmental harms, create clean-energy jobs,
and improve human lives.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Northampton City Council call on City
government and staff and all Northampton civic groups, businesses, and residents to commit to
a climate mobilization effort to bring net City-wide carbon emissions to zero no later than the
year 2050, though we advocate for increased state and federal assistance so that we can aim
for carbon neutrality by 2030;