2023 Greenhouse Gas Inventory

A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a critical tool for understanding and managing emissions within the community. It provides a detailed account of the sources and quantities of greenhouse gases emitted, serving as a baseline for measuring progress toward sustainability goals. Conducting a GHG inventory involves collecting data from various sectors, including transportation, energy use, and waste management, and applying standardized methodologies to quantify emissions accurately.

For the City of Evansville, this inventory will include both community-wide and municipal operations assessments. The community-wide inventory captures emissions from all sectors within the city, while the municipal operations inventory focuses specifically on emissions produced by city government activities. This distinction allows for a more comprehensive understanding of where emissions are generated and how they can be reduced.

The inventory will primarily focus on the calendar year of 2023, while also collecting historical data to highlight year-over-year trends in emissions. This approach will enable the city to identify patterns and measure progress over time.

In 2020, an abridged, basic inventory was conducted alongside the original Climate Action Plan (CAP). However, the current initiative represents a significant enhancement, as it involves a much more exhaustive analysis using the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Emissions (GPC), the industry standard and most rigorous framework for this work. By employing these best practices, Evansville aims to ensure that its inventory is both reliable and actionable.

The Evansville Climate Collaborative is collaborating with ClimateNav, a public-benefit startup dedicated to helping local governments advance their sustainability goals. This partnership will facilitate the development of a comprehensive inventory while also establishing a systematic process for updating these inventories on a regular basis. This commitment to transparency and data-driven accountability is essential for tracking the city’s progress in reducing emissions over time.

Ultimately, the GHG Inventory will play a pivotal role in informing the Evansville Climate Collaborative’s strategies and actions, ensuring that efforts to combat climate change are grounded in solid data and reflect the community’s sustainability objectives.