Global Covenant of Mayors

In January 2021, Durham joined the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM). GCoM is an international alliance of more than 11,000 cities and local governments with a shared, long-term vision of a world where they accelerate ambitious, measurable climate and energy initiatives that lead to an inclusive, just, low-emission and climate resilient future, working to meet and exceed the Paris Agreement objectives.

Under this agreement, Durham:

Measured its emissions, risks, and vulnerabilities by completing a Community-Wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment. The Community-Wide Greenhouse Gas Inventory measures all emissions taking place within Durham's Town boundary in 2019 and was completed in 2021. Durham will complete a Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment in 2022, which will measure risks specific to Durham.

Set targets to reduce emissions and risks. In 2021, Durham agreed to reduce emissions from 2019 levels by 35.5% by 2030, and achieve zero emissions by 2050. These emission reduction targets are as ambitious as the United States' Nationally Determined Contribution, which is in line with the Paris Agreement. Durham is creating risk reduction goals based on the findings from its 2022 Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment.

Current Status of Durham’s Climate Action "Mitigation" Plan (attached below) which outlines specific actions, their impacts, and how to measure progress towards achieving the actions has been completed following updated GCOM protocols. This plan shall act as a tool for guiding projects, identifying funding opportunities, and balancing priorities.

Plans for the future are working on the "Adaptation" portion of the plan after the Hazard Mitigation Plan gets finalized.

Tracks progress towards these efforts. After the adoption of Durham's Climate Action Plan, Durham is required to report updates to GCOM every two years to remain in compliance.