CLIMATE CHANGE

Joint Venture works closely with the highest levels of both the public and private sector to help Silicon Valley develop and manage our region's response to climate change.

We collaborate with regional government agencies, municipalities, supervisors, mayors, city councils, nonprofit organizations and community groups on a variety of projects to enhance sustainability.

Our public sector efforts focus on sustainability efforts in publicly owned buildings. On the private sector side, in 2009 Joint Venture created its Greenprint for Silicon Valley, a comprehensive strategy for leveraging innovations in clean technology to reduce greenhouse gases and make our region more sustainable while growing our economy at the same time.

Joint Venture’s climate initiatives consist of two distinct programs:

Public Sector: Climate Task Force

Since 2007, Joint Venture has convened representatives from many of the public agencies in Silicon Valley through the Public Sector Climate Task Force to develop strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from public agency operations. The program focuses on inventories of greenhouse gas emissions from publicly owned buildings, setting goals for emissions reductions, and the creation of climate action plans. Through the Task Force, members share best practices related to their sustainability efforts, success stories and challenges, and embark on collaborative projects to achieve environmental goals.  Collaborative projects often include purchasing pools for green products and services, such as emissions inventories, tools, and renewable power.

Private Sector: Climate Prosperity Council

The Silicon Valley Climate Prosperity Council brings together businesses, executives and other private sector stakeholders from throughout our region and across multiple sectors to address climate change while growing our local economy. The Climate Prosperity Initiative focuses on four areas based on the California Global Warming Solutions Act and the opportunity to leverage local resources: renewable energy, building efficiency, clean, convenient transportation and green infrastructure. The initiative is guided by our Greenprint, and provides coordination among new and existing economic development and environmental initiatives.