Climate Policy Advisory Team

Climate Policy Advisory Team Works to

Create a Climate Element

The City’s Climate Policy Advisory Team (CPAT) was temporarily established to advise the City on policies and regulations that will lead to the addition of a mandated Climate Element in the city’s adopted Comprehensive Plan. This will be accomplished by amending the 2024 Comprehensive Plan Update in 2025 through a public effort that includes:

Analyzing climate information to provide recommendations.
Reviewing and recommending goals and policies for the Climate Element.
Participating in meetings to help refine the direction of the Climate Element.
Reviewing and providing feedback on information gathered through engagement processes to ensure the Climate Element incorporates input from affected communities, stakeholders, partner agencies, and City staff.
Stewarding the process and building broad community support to enable the City to successfully adopt the Climate Element into the Comprehensive Plan.

Numerous opportunities for review and input will be provided over the coming year, and public participation is highly encouraged. The CPAT will make a recommendation on a draft Climate Element to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will then make a recommendation on the Comprehensive Plan amendment to the City Council. The City Council will consider the draft with community input as the final decision maker. Public hearings will be noticed and held at the Planning Commission and at the City Council before any action.

New Climate Element Requirements (HB 1181)

Washington House Bill (HB) 1181, passed in 2023, updates the Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) to require cities and counties to integrate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and climate change resilience policies into comprehensive plan updates. For Lake Forest Park, climate policies will be contained in a new climate element (docketing amendment effort in 2025) to the local adopted comprehensive plan, to reduce climate pollution, enhance community resiliency, and improve local air quality and public health. Climate elements must maximize economic, environmental, and social co-benefits and prioritize environmental justice in order to avoid worsening environmental health disparities. As climate change impacts a variety of sectors such as land use and transportation, the Climate Element will also integrate with other comprehensive plan chapters. The Climate Element will include two important sub-elements: the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Sub-Element and the Resilience Sub-Element.

Lake Forest Park’s Climate Element

The City of Lake Forest Park’s Climate Element will focus on building resilience to climate impacts while reducing GHG emissions within the Lake Forest Park community. This new Climate Element will be integrated into the City’s Comprehensive Plan, which serves as the guiding framework to achieve Lake Forest Park’s vision for the future. As part of the Climate Element process, the project team will work to understand Lake Forest Park’s unique climate impacts and emissions, gather input from the community, and assess climate risk and community vulnerabilities, by conducting a GHG inventory, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, and community engagement.

The Climate Element will also build on the recently adopted Climate Action Plan (CAP), which was developed by the Climate Action Committee (CAC) and adopted by the City Council in June 2024. The CAP identifies specific strategies and actions to address climate change and will be implemented alongside the Comprehensive Plan. For more information on the CAP, please see the Climate Action Committee webpage.

What does it mean to build climate resilience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Building climate resilience means preparing Lake Forest Park to adapt to the impacts of climate change, such as rising temperatures, wildfire smoke, more intense storms, and flooding—natural hazards that are becoming more severe.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions focuses on lowering emissions from activities like energy use in buildings and vehicle transportation, with the goal of helping the city meet Washington State’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Key Components of the Climate Element

Guided by the findings from the Climate Element process and the strategies described in the CAP, the Climate Element will outline actionable initiatives to meet the City’s climate goals.

The Climate Element will consist of two key sub-elements:

The Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Sub-Element aims to reduce Lake Forest Park’s GHG emissions in line with Washington State's net-zero target by 2050. Key goals include reducing overall emissions, cutting per-person driving miles, and prioritizing actions that benefit overburdened communities.
The Resilience Sub-Element focuses on improving the city’s ability to adapt to climate impacts like rising temperatures, wildfire smoke, and intense storms. Policies will address climate-related natural hazards, protect and enhance natural areas, and strengthen community resilience.

Get Involved

Community engagement is crucial to the success of this Climate Element project. We invite the Lake Forest Park community and residents to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas as we develop the Climate Element. Your input will help shape our priorities and strategies. We will be hosting a survey (early 2025), public open house (spring 2025), and comment period (summer 2025) to gather your feedback and foster detailed discussions on these important topics. Stay tuned for updates on upcoming opportunities to participate. As we progress in this process, we will continually update this page with information about engagement opportunities. Thank you for being an active participant in our community’s climate initiatives!