SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio City Council approved a proposed merging ordinance for the city’s two existing climate advisory committees, setting in motion a singular team to oversee sustainability efforts and the city’s climate plan.
The former committees — the San Antonio Climate Ready Equity Advisory Committee and the Technical & Community Advisory Committee — featured an array of members with technical expertise in climate mitigation and adaptation.
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Both were created after San Antonio adopted its Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) on Oct. 17, 2019. The process was prompted by city council’s passing of a resolution in June 2017 in support of the Paris Climate Agreement, according to documents from Thursday’s meeting.
Last month, Zabrina Rodriguez Rapozo, a climate program manager for the Office of Sustainability, said the office expects to release an updated CAAP plan in the summer of 2025.
The two former advisory committees implemented two city climate plans: the SA Tomorrow Sustainability Plan and the CAAP, according to descriptions on the city committee websites.
The office said the split committees exhibited challenges around addressing climate equity, a goal set forth for both committees.
Other challenges faced included:
- Limited staff capacity to manage logistics for two committees with 35 total members
- Difficulty meeting quorum for the Climate Equity Advisory Committee
- At-large membership being inconsistent with current city board and commission standards. Also lacking was the provision of the needed mayor and city council engagement with individually appointed members.
Under the singular San Antonio Climate Ready Advisory Committee, members will comprise:
- Ten city council-appointed members
- One member appointed by the mayor
- The mayor will appoint one member from the Mayor’s Youth Engagement Council for Climate Initiatives.
- Five ex-officio members will be from CPS Energy, SAWS, VIA Metropolitan Transit, San Antonio River Authority, and Joint Base San Antonio.
- Term appointments will be for two years, concurrent with the end of the current city council term.
Some of the expectations for the new committee include preparing an annual report for city council regarding activities and progress on the city’s CAAP plan and providing a venue the public can use to provide input on CAAP priorities and objectives.
In February, when the Office of Sustainability released its annual report, social media users quickly jumped to question the public input process, citing the lack of outward committee meetings last year.
“What is going on with the SA climate ready boards?” one user wrote on Facebook. “They have not convened in a year and all of the current members’ terms have expired. How are we supposed to update the CAAP with ‘prioritized emissions reduction targets’ if there’s no public input from the SA climate ready boards.”
Five meetings each were held between the two committees in 2022.
The technical advisory committee held two meetings in 2023, while the equity advisory committee canceled its only February 2023 meeting, according to the committee’s website.
Doug Melnick, the office’s chief sustainability officer, expects the merger to focus the office’s goals on forwarding future climate and sustainability plans in San Antonio.
“This committee will play a key role in advancing San Antonio’s Climate Action & Adaptation Play by providing strategic guidance and expert advice,” Melnick said in an emailed statement to KSAT. “The Office of Sustainability will bring information to the committee so that it can help make efficient and collaborative decisions that includes City Council engagement. With this more equitable and diverse membership, the new committee will continue to help the City with its sustainability efforts.”
Rapozo said the committee is expected to be formed in time for its first meeting in early 2025.