Regional Climate Action Planning Framework & Monitoring

In recent years, nearly all of the San Diego region’s 19 local governments have adopted a climate action plan (CAP) or are in the process of creating one. Local agency staff members and elected officials communicated that ongoing efforts to adopt, update, and monitor the implementation of their CAPs would benefit from regionally consistent approaches, methodologies, and data sources.

In response, SANDAG collaborated with local agency staff and leading climate planning experts to prepare the Regional Climate Action Planning Framework (ReCAP), which identifies best practices and guidance for preparing CAPs and monitoring implementation over time.

ReCAP establishes a technical framework for regionally consistent climate action planning that preserves local policy flexibility for the unique needs and circumstances of each local jurisdiction. As part of the framework, SANDAG provides biannual ReCAP Snapshots to local jurisdictions to help them monitor communitywide greenhouse gas emissions or CAPs implementation over time. The ReCAP Snapshots are meant to support, but not replace, a jurisdiction’s efforts to monitor and report on the implementation of their CAP.

Climate planning activities vary by jurisdiction and depend on various factors, such as funding and staff capacity. For jurisdictions without an adopted CAP, the ReCAP Snapshots provide data that can help inform ongoing or future CAP development or other sustainability plans and initiatives.

The City of Coronado has postponed participation in the ReCAP efforts until substantial progress has been made on its CAP. More information on the City of San Diego CAP and County of San Diego CAP can be found on their respective websites.