Climate Action Council Draft Scoping Plan

The climate action Scoping Plan was carefully drafted by teams of experts and stakeholders from across the State.

The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act) was signed into law in 2019 and is one of the most ambitious climate laws in the nation. The law created the Climate Action Council (the Council), which was tasked with developing a Scoping Plan that serves as an initial framework for how the State will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net-zero emissions, increase renewable energy usage, and ensure climate justice. On December 20, 2021, the Council voted to release the Draft Scoping Plan for public comment. January 1, 2022 marked the beginning of a comment period, which closed on July 1, 2022. The feedback from the public helped the Council develop and release the Final Scoping Plan on January 1, 2023.



Read the Draft Scoping Plan Overview

Read the Draft Scoping Plan

View Fact Sheets & Infographics

Appendices


Climate Justice Working Group Input in the Draft Scoping Plan


Integration Analysis

To inform and support the Climate Action Council’s Scoping Plan, an Integration Analysis was developed to estimate the economy-wide benefits, costs, and GHG emissions reductions associated with pathways that achieve the Climate Act GHG emission limits and carbon neutrality goal. This Integration Analysis incorporates and builds from Advisory Panel and Working Group recommendations, as well as inputs and insights from complementary analyses, to model and assess multiple mitigation scenarios. Key results, drivers, and assumptions are available below.


Archive of Climate Action Council Meetings and Materials

The Climate Action Council was responsible for developing a Scoping Plan to reduce New York’s greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and no less than 85 percent by 2050. The Council was supported by a Just Transition Working Group and sector-specific Advisory Panels, whose members contributed a diversity of expertise in drafting a suite of recommendations for the Council’s Scoping Plan. Together, these groups determined the emissions reductions strategies necessary to combat climate change, ensuring that the most vulnerable among us benefit from clean energy and guaranteeing that New Yorkers thrive in the low-carbon economy.

Explore the sections below to view recordings of past meetings and the materials that were presented.

Chair

  • Richard Ball, Chair, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets

Members

  • Peter Innes, Natural Resources Supervisor, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
  • Rafael Aponte, Founder, Rocky Acres Community Farm
  • Amanda Barber, Manager, Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • John Bartow, Executive Director, Empire State Forest Products Association
  • Michelle Brown, Conservation Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
  • Tom Gerow, General Manager, Wagner Lumber Co.
  • Suzanne Hunt, President, Hunt Green LLC and Co-Owner, Hunt Country Vineyards
  • Peter Lehner, Director of Sustainable Food and Farming, EarthJustice
  • Samantha Levy, New York Policy Manager, American Farmland Trust
  • Robert Malmsheimer, Professor of Forest Policy and Law, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
  • Stephanie Morningstar, Coordinator, Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust
  • John Noble, President, Noblehurst Farms
  • Julie Suarez, Associate Dean, Office of Land-Grant Affairs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University
  • Ned Sullivan, President, Scenic Hudson
  • Donna Wadsworth, Communications Manager, International Paper
  • Elizabeth Wolters, Deputy Director of Public Policy, New York Farm Bureau
  • Peter Woodbury, Senior Research Associate, School of Integrative Plant Science, Soil and Crop Sciences, Cornell University
  • Nelson Villarrubia, Executive Director, Trees New York

Comments can be emailed to Agriculture.forestry@agriculture.ny.gov

Upcoming Meetings

There are no scheduled meetings at this time.

Past Meeting Materials

Monday, August 24, 2020
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Thursday, October 1, 2020
Monday, October 19, 2020
Wednesday, November 2, 2020
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Thursday, February 4, 2021
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Archive of Input Studies and Reports