The city of Tucson is asking community members for their views on climate and sustainability actions, the first step in the city’s development of a 10-year Climate Action Plan.

Tucson was ranked as the third-fastest warming city in the United States in 2019, which led the City Council to declare a climate emergency last year and commit to developing a decadelong plan to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Now, city leaders are asking Tucson residents to participate in the Climate Action Community Survey to identify priorities that are important to them.

β€œWe have a responsibility to put together a Climate Action Plan,” Mayor Regina Romero said. β€œIt’s a strategic plan for our city to make sure that we’re not just planning for adaptation of the climate getting hotter and hotter here, but also that we are removing greenhouse gases which causes climate change.”

FΓ‘tima Luna, the environmental and sustainability policy advisor for the city, said developing the climate plan will take about a year. The first half of that year will be dedicated to community engagement.

β€œWe are engaging the youth throughout the process, because they are the ones who are most impacted,” Luna said. β€œSo, having their perspective reflected in not only the end product, but also how we’re developing listening sessions and even the survey was important.”

While the plan is being developed, Tucson is also working on other initiatives that are dedicated to helping the environment, including Move Tucson, the citywide transportation master plan, and One Water 2100, another long-term plan that focuses on water resources.

Nathaniel Sigal, Romero’s senior policy advisor, said the Tucson Million Trees Initiative is also β€œrocking and rolling” since the city hired a coordinator and that the city continues to pursue the electrification of Tucson transportation fleets.

β€œJust last year, we were able to add another five new electric buses to Sun Tran,” Sigal said. β€œSo, there’s a lot of efforts that are running in unison with the Climate Action Plan that are happening now.”

Ultimately, Romero said sustainability is the long-term goal of the climate plan.

β€œWe have to have a strategic plan that will set goals for how we as a city are going to cut greenhouse gas emissions, go down to zero waste and invest in electrifying our vehicle and bus fleets for transit systems,” Romero said.

The climate survey is open to the public until March 31. The survey is bilingual and includes questions about global warming importance, energy strategies, transportation and environmental equity. So far, Luna said the responses have shown that community members support climate action and sustainability.

β€œLuna was telling me that she’d seen some of the responses in the survey, and they’re very, very creative, in terms of their suggestions of what we should do,” Romero said. β€œSo, I’m dying to see the results of the survey.”

Following the survey, the city will start planning a series of community listening sessions, which are expected to take place from April to June.

Results from the survey and the community sessions will inform the city’s final climate action plan, which is expected to be completed by January 2022.

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Jamie Donnelly is a student at the University of Arizona and an apprentice for the Arizona Daily Star.