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Climate Action Plan and Greenhouse Gas Inventories

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Climate Action Plan and Greenhouse Gas Inventories

The earth’s climate is changing because of increasing greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. The Hoboken Climate Action Plan provides a baseline carbon footprint for GHG emissions, sets achievable goals and targets for GHG emissions reductions, and identifies actions required to achieve those goals.

Net Zero Energy: The City will be net zero by 2030, and municipal government operations will be net zero by 2025. The City began purchasing 100% renewable electricity for municipal facilities in 2019. Net Zero Energy means to produce or purchase as much energy as is consumed from secure, affordable and clean energy sources.

Carbon Neutral: Hoboken will be carbon neutral by 2050, and municipal government operations will be carbon neutral by 2035. Carbon neutral means to reduce or offset all inventoried sources of carbon emissions.

Hoboken will help mitigate climate change by lowering the City’s GHG emissions beyond the targets established by the Paris Climate Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Jersey Gold Star in Energy.

These goals and actions will be re-evaluated every five years, in order to ensure that the City is taking an ambitious yet achievable path toward carbon neutrality.

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The earth’s climate is changing because of increasing greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. The Hoboken Climate Action Plan provides a baseline carbon footprint for GHG emissions, sets achievable goals and targets for GHG emissions reductions, and identifies actions required to achieve those goals.

Net Zero Energy: The City will be net zero by 2030, and municipal government operations will be net zero by 2025. The City began purchasing 100% renewable electricity for municipal facilities in 2019. Net Zero Energy means to produce or purchase as much energy as is consumed from secure, affordable and clean energy sources.

Carbon Neutral: Hoboken will be carbon neutral by 2050, and municipal government operations will be carbon neutral by 2035. Carbon neutral means to reduce or offset all inventoried sources of carbon emissions.

Hoboken will help mitigate climate change by lowering the City’s GHG emissions beyond the targets established by the Paris Climate Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Jersey Gold Star in Energy.

These goals and actions will be re-evaluated every five years, in order to ensure that the City is taking an ambitious yet achievable path toward carbon neutrality.

Climate Action Plan

The Hoboken Climate Action Plan identifies GHG emissions reductions targets and recommends a series of feasible data-driven strategies and actions for meeting these targets. The Plan seeks to achieve GHG reductions in ways that improve quality of life, environmental and public health, and resilience for present and future generations of Hoboken residents.

Climate Mitigation Goals

Using the baseline established by the GHG Emissions Inventory, the Climate Action Plan will guide the City to achieving the following goals.

The City will strive to exceed these goals, which will be re-evaluated every five years, in order to ensure that the City is taking an ambitious yet achievable path toward carbon neutrality.

Climate Actions

The Plan aims to reduce GHG emissions from major emission sources identified in the GHG emissions inventories through climate actions. The plan recommends actions that are both cost-effective and feasible.

The following climate actions have been identified as priorities to address Hoboken’s climate action goals. The full list of climate actions is provided in Section 5 of the Hoboken Climate Action Plan.

Community
  • Make Hoboken Electric Vehicle (EV) friendly by establishing favorable zoning, ordinances, on-line training, community education, and access to EV charging infrastructure
  • Make Hoboken solar friendly by establishing favorable zoning, ordinances, outreach program, and purchasing program
  • Conduct residential and community energy efficiency outreach
  • Employ various community education, incentives, and audits to lessen energy consumption and promote walking, biking, and mass transit
Municipal Government Operations
  • Purchase renewable power for municipal buildings
  • Install solar energy systems
  • Install LED lighting (e.g., street lights and traffic lights)
  • Conduct energy audits and energy efficiency upgrades
  • Phase in hybrid and electric vehicles to the municipal fleet
  • Phase in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses into HOP local bus service fleet
  • Increase HOP transit frequency
  • Consider incentives for employees who commute via non-vehicular transportation or electric vehicles

Hoboken Climate Action Plan Report

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories

The GHG emissions inventories set the baseline (2017) which Hoboken will use to measure future GHG emissions reductions. Hoboken has two GHG inventories:

Community GHG Inventory (Community Carbon Footprint): Inventory of GHG emissions from the City of Hoboken.

Municipal Operations GHG Inventory (Municipal Carbon Footprint): Inventory of GHG emissions resulting from municipal operations. Municipal operations include energy consumption and related emissions from municipally owned and operated buildings, exterior and street lighting, and the municipal fleet, including major contracted services such as waste/recycling pickup.

The GHG inventories meet BASIC level reporting requirements set out in the Global Protocol for Community-scale GHG emissions (GPC), and use the ICLEI Clearpath tool. By using an internationally accepted reporting protocol and cloud-based tool, Hoboken can compare and benchmark results against other cities. The tool will also enable Hoboken to complete the Sustainable Jersey Community Carbon Footprint Action and Municipal Carbon Footprint Action.

Community Carbon Footprint

The community of Hoboken has a total carbon footprint of 445,313 tonnes of CO2 equivalents (tCO2e) for its base year of 2017. The unit CO2e represents the impact of all greenhouse gases (GHGs) reported as if they were all CO2, the most common GHG.

The three largest sectors of GHG emissions include Commercial Energy, Transportation, and Residential Energy. Within these sectors, major sources of emissions include combustion of fossil fuels and the consumption of electricity.

Hoboken's carbon footprint is approximately 8.08 tCO2e per capita, which is higher than New York City, but lower than other cities in New Jersey and comparable cities in the northeast.

Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report

Municipal Carbon Footprint

The total GHG emissions from municipal operations for calendar year 2017 amounted to 4,280 tCO2e. For Hoboken’s local government, its facilities, lighting (street lights and traffic lights), and vehicle fleet are the three largest sectors of GHG emissions. Within these sectors, major sources of emissions include combustion of fossil fuels and the consumption of electricity.

Municipal Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report

Learn More

For more information about the City of Hoboken’s Sustainability and Resiliency Efforts, click here.

knowledge base: faqs



Does the Shade Tree Commission have a list of trees that they recommend for planting? View the approved list of tree species.

Who should trim the tree in front of my house? Please contact David Calamoneri.

I know of a tree that I believe is dying or is dangerous, who should I contact? Please contact David Calamoneri.

How do I become a volunteer for the Shade Tree Commission? Please contact Peter Bakarich III.

How do I apply to be a commissioner on the Shade Tree Commission? Submit an application for appointment to citizen advisory boards and commissions.

When does the Hoboken Shade Tree commission meet? Click here to view the meeting dates for 2015.

What are the benefits and reasons for planting trees in Hoboken? Read about 13 Reasons to plant trees.

How can I find out info on the tree(s) on my Street? View the Hoboken Tree Inventory.

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