Sustainability and Resilience

Our goal: Eliminate carbon emissions and make communities resilient to climate change.

SPUR’s Five-Year Priorities:

• Eliminate the use of fossil fuel in buildings.

• Secure sufficient funding and evolve public institutions to prepare the Bay Area for sea level rise and flooding, with a focus on communities of color.

• Ensure that the Bay Area has safe, reliable and sufficient water to accommodate growth and help natural ecosystems thrive.

• Propose strategies to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis, including wildfire, drought and sea level rise.

Read more from SPUR’s Agenda for Change

  • SPUR Report

    Safety First: Improving Hazard Resilience in the Bay Area

    The San Francisco Bay Area is both a treasured place and a hazardous environment where flooding, wildfires and earthquakes are common today. As a region exposed to multiple hazards, how can we manage for all of them at the same time?

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  • SPUR Report

    San Francisco Bay Shoreline Adaptation Atlas

    The San Francisco Bay Shoreline Adaptation Atlas, a joint effort by SPUR and the San Francisco Estuary Institute, proposes a science-based framework for using nature to plan for climate adaptation in the Bay Area. It is the first research to come out of the SPUR Regional Strategy, an initiative to plan for the Bay Area of 2070.

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  • SPUR Report

    Fossil-Free Bay Area

    California has the most ambitious climate policy framework in the world, and the San Francisco Bay Area has the resources, political temperament and innovative spirit to demonstrate how to eliminate fossil fuel use. This means ending our dependence on petroleum and natural gas and powering our buildings and transportation system with renewables like solar and wind. We can prototype ways to become fossil-free, modeling them for cities and urban regions around the world.

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  • Ongoing Initiative

    The Resilient City

    We know that another major earthquake will strike San Francisco — we just don’t know when. Since 2008, SPUR has led a comprehensive effort to retrofit the buildings and infrastructure that sustain city life. Our Resilient City Initiative recommends steps the city should take before, during and after the next big quake.

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  • SPUR Report

    Future-Proof Water

    Most of the Bay Area’s water is imported from outside the region. Today these supplies are regularly threatened by drought, earthquakes and other risks — all of which will intensify with future climate change. Meanwhile, our region of 7 million people will add 2 million more by 2040. Do we have the water we need as we grow?

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  • Ongoing Initiative

    Ocean Beach Master Plan

    Ocean Beach, one of San Francisco’s most treasured landscapes, faces significant challenges. Since 2010, SPUR has led an extensive interagency and public process to develop the Ocean Beach Master Plan, a comprehensive vision to address sea level rise, protect infrastructure, restore coastal ecosystems and improve public access.

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Updates and Events

Funding California’s Fight Against Climate Change

News October 23, 2020
What could California do to limit climate change and clean the air if the state had $30 billion to spend in the next 10 years? Climate change policy leaders gathered to tackle this question at an October 1 convening organized by SPUR and Move LA. On the table is a potential ballot measure that could go before California voters in November 2022.

SPUR Urges the California Energy Commission to Set Strong Decarbonization Requirements

Policy Letter October 21, 2020
Under current policies, California is projected to miss its 2030 climate goal, emitting 25 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent over the goal of 259 MMT. To correct course, the state needs to move expediently to electrify buildings. SPUR urges staff to set strong decarbonization requirements by tightening the gas baseline, in order to lead to broad adoption of all-electric new construction.

SPUR calls on San Francisco Board of Supervisors to Pass All-Electric New Construction Ordinance

Policy Letter September 21, 2020
SPUR supports the proposed ordinance to amend San Francisco's building code to require all-electric new construction, phasing out the use of natural gas in residential and commercial buildings. The ordinance advances the state's goals to achieve eighty percent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It does not impact existing buildings, additions, or alterations.

A Stimulus Will Put People to Work Faster by Building Lots of Smaller, Cleaner Projects

News May 26, 2020
Our state is in dire need of an infrastructure stimulus designed to put people back to work quickly. A traditional stimulus that funds huge, singular infrastructure projects like the Hoover Dam won't cut it. Instead, we need thousands of smaller, distributed projects that will get people back to work immediately, train them in fast-growing jobs and generate a healthier, low-carbon future of California.

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