Climate Budget

Executive Summary:
Solving the climate crisis will require adaptations across our entire political, economic, and social systems. This will require a “whole of government” approach, in which climate action becomes mainstream in every government department and agency. That is why through her position as a policy fellow in the Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles, Chrissy Anecito is working in collaboration with C40 and 11 international cities to pilot a Climate Budget. A climate budget is a governance system embedding climate targets and considerations into all city-wide decisions through the municipal budgeting process. This process will decentralize the responsibility to meet Climate Action Goals, and incorporate all municipal departments in L.A.’s efforts to achieve these goals. As a member of a small team of city employees, Chrissy is leading the city’s efforts by coordinating directly with C40 to design a pilot program and strategizing within city departments to ensure its longevity.

Importance:
This project is important because it will provide a roadmap for future administrations to further decarbonize their investments, provides a new tool to help departments meet aggressive Climate Action goals, and incorporate climate considerations into all fiscal decisions.

Impact and Reach:
Goals for Climate Budget Pilot Project:
• Add the Climate Budget into the citywide financial budget for FY 2023-2024
• Identify and elicit buy in from targeted city departments
• Establish a replicable system to be expanded in future administrations
o Generate support from private entities and the city more broadly
• Utilize the Climate Budget as a tool to meet Climate Action Plan goals citywide
• Achieve the following climate targets:
o Electrification of buildings by 2050
o Electrification of water delivery
o Electrification of Port facilities by 2050
o Carbon neutral LAWA buildings by 2050
o 50% of light duty vehicles converted to EV by 2035, and 100% electrification by 2050
o 100% electrification of LADOT transit fleet by 2028
o 43% renewable energy in power generation by 2020, 80% by 2035, and 100% by 2050

Collaborations:
This project requires collaboration with C40 Climate Budget program leads, representatives in the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, LA Sanitation Office, the Chief Administrative Officer, and various department teams participating in the pilot. Additionally, I will work with representatives from New York, Montreal, Rio de Janeiro, Oslo, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Berlin, Milan, Tshwane, and Mumbai; cities who are all part of the pilot program.

My Role:
As the primary project manager on the team, I will be responsible for coordinating between all stakeholders involved; setting and meeting internal and external deadlines; and reporting out to the C40 team and international partners on Los Angeles’ progress and challenges. I will also be working with C40 to develop the structure of our pilot, identifying the targeted departments to participate, budget items to track, etc.

Anticipated Timeline and Needs:
• Phase 1: September 2021 – December 2021
o C40 Cities requires participants to attend monthly meetings, 3-4 longer meetings, and 1 workshop per year through the pilot program (2022-2023).
o Focus on building a common understanding of what a climate budget is and how to implement it in Los Angeles
• Phase 2: January 2022 – March 2022
o Develop Climate Budget fundamentals specific to Los Angeles
o Solicit and confirm buy in from targeted departments
• Phase 3: April 2022 – June 2022
o Governance & mainstreaming in the budget cycle
o Assign out responsibilities for tracking and reporting climate budget items
o Create systems through which this budgeting program can be implemented
o Elicit buy in from new administration (?)
o Assembling the climate budget
o Finalize details and functionality of budget
• Phase 4: July 2022 – September 2022
o Implementation and execution of the climate budget
o Fully incorporate the climate budget into the fiscal budget process
• Phase 5: October 2022 – December 2022
o Monitoring, reporting and evaluation
o Troubleshoot one-off challenges and issues with the pilot to ensure future success