Sunnyvale's Climate Action Playbook

Created by and for the Community

The Sunnyvale Climate Action Playbook sets a vision for the City of Sunnyvale to reduce carbon emissions by 2045. It builds upon our past success and integrates new, bold, breakthrough ideas generated by our community. Above all, it paves the path towards becoming a resilient and sustainable Sunnyvale through collective action.

This website is organized into two components linked at the top right corner. This Scoreboard page highlights key achievements under each Strategy, progress on our Next Moves, and key metrics that highlight our journey so far. The Playbook page is where you can learn more about the Climate Action Playbook and its Strategies, Plays, and targets.

Current Score

The Climate Action Playbook is a plan for how our community can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address climate change. Just as a sports playbook identifies a team’s winning strategies for achieving success on the field, the Climate Action Playbook contains winning strategies to meet California’s new targets for deeper emissions reductions. We are aiming to reduce emissions by: 

  • 56% below 1990 levels by 2030 (exceeding the State’s 40% by 2030 target), and
  • 85% below 1990 levels by 2045.

The Playbook lays out the following path to achieving these targets:

  • Six key Strategies that outline the overarching approach for bold climate action.
  • Nineteen Plays within the Strategies that identify areas for action and measurable targets to define progress.
  • Game Plan 2028, which contains 66 “Next Moves” (specific actions) that the City and community can collectively take to address climate change.

Our Climate Action Playbook targets align with two state policies. The California Global Warming Solutions Act, AB32, was the first policy in California to require sharp reductions in GHG emissions. Its emissions reduction standards are what set Sunnyvale’s Climate Action Playbook targets. AB 32 aims to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. 1990 levels are defined as 15% below a business-as-usual scenario. In the absence of 1990 emissions data by sector, the City used its first inventory for year 2008 to determine our 1990 levels. As of 2022, Sunnyvale’s community-wide emissions were 26% below 1990 levels. The second state policy is the California Climate Crisis Act, AB1279, to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. AB1279 aims to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and ensure that by 2045, statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 85% below 1990 levels. As of 2024, Sunnyvale has aligned our carbon neutrality target with AB1279. 

To learn more about sustainability efforts in Sunnyvale, Read the full Climate Action Playbook and visit the City of Sunnyvale Sustainability webpage.

Game Plan 2028 Legend

The Climate Action Playbook defines our “Next Moves” between now and 2028. The Moves are intended to help Sunnyvale achieve our 2030 targets. The Moves will be updated in alignment with department work plans every five years thereafter. This ensures that climate action priorities are consistently and continually woven throughout City operations. 

As we developed these Moves, we rated them in terms of their carbon reduction potential. We also considered the other community goals each would help us achieve. In the "At-a-Glance" table below, Moves supporting each co-benefit are illustrated with a series of icons. Colored icons indicate when the Move will support the respective co-benefit. This legend explains each of the co-benefit icons as well as icons that show progress toward completing each Move.  

Co-Benefits

GHG Reduction Potential illustrates the relative carbon savings potential of a Move on a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 cloud indicates minimum potential (e.g., informational or educational action that supports other Moves) up to 4 clouds which indicates maximum potential (e.g., affecting emissions of an entire sector).

Local Environmental Quality indicates Moves that improve air quality, water quality, and/or open space amenities.

Health and Livability indicates Moves that improve physical, mental and emotional health or wellbeing and quality of life for residents, employees, and visitors.

Community Savings Moves provide long-term savings for residents, businesses, or the City.

Partnership Moves will require assistance from and coordination with partner organizations or agencies, such as SVCE and Valley Water.

Progress

Green Checkmark - "Complete or ongoing" - a major milestone has been achieved (e.g., base level of outreach, monitoring, or implementation needed).

Three Blue Dots - "In Progress" - work on this Move has started (i.e., on track and implemented as originally planned).

Purple Clock  - "Delayed" (i.e., scheduled for the current year but delayed).

Grey Circle  - "Not yet scheduled" (i.e., scheduled for implementation in later years).

Yellow Pause - "On hold" (i.e., due to the pandemic or awaiting action by players outside the City).

Game Plan 2028 at a Glance

The following table provides an at-a-glance view of the status of each one of our Moves. Expand each Strategy and Play to find each of the Moves, their status, and the co-benefits each will provide the community as they are implemented.

Biggest Drivers

As we saw a bounce back in economic activity from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions lifting, community-wide emissions in 2022 went up 8% from 2021. This 8% increase can be attributed to the following drivers: 

- Transportation: After accounting for gradual increases in travel patterns when pandemic restrictions lifted, the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and associated emissions from driving increased by 17% in 2022. This was the biggest driver of the emissions increase from 2021 levels and reverted transportation emissions back to pre-pandemic levels. Game Plan 2028 establishes aggressive actions to significantly reduce emissions in the sector by supporting electric vehicle adoption and encouraging reductions in VMT through other modes of travel.

- Electricity: Since 2017, Sunnyvale’s electricity emissions declined due to receiving carbon-free electricity from SVCE. However, some of our residents and businesses still receive electricity directly from PG&E. PG&E’s electricity contains a mix of fossil fuels and carbon-free sources. Additionally, in recent years, market competition and increased costs have made it more difficult for both PG&E and SVCE to secure carbon-free resources. In 2022, PG&E and SVCE reported higher carbon emissions in their portfolios. This resulted in electricity emissions increasing by 61% from 2021 levels. Despite unexpected increases in the sector, the City is continuing to support and steer SVCE in providing electricity from a mix of carbon-free and renewable sources. Additionally, Game Plan 2028 includes actions to advance local solar energy generation and storage for resiliency. 

- Off-road: In 2022, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a new method to track off-road emissions that is more representative of the activities happening in the sector. The new method tracks emissions associated with vehicle registration data in Sunnyvale. This presents a more representative assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from off-road equipment. The results show a 23% increase in emissions associated with the off-road sector compared to 2021. To reduce off-road sector emissions, Game Plan 2028 includes a new Play (Play 3.4) and Move (Move 3.P) to decarbonize off-road equipment and vehicles.