Total 2014 GHG Pollution
3,606,199 metric tons CO2e
How we compare
Our total emissions are calculated for Orleans Parish only and are relatively low compared to other U.S. cities. This is largely due to the high amount of low-carbon energy already in our electricity mix compared to other cities.
Pollution Per Capita (metric tons)
| Houston, TX |
15.22 |
| Portland, OR |
12.47 |
| Chicago, IL |
12.34 |
| Seattle, WA |
9.40 |
| New Orleans, LA |
9.38 |
| Los Angeles, CA |
8.31 |
| San Francisco, CA |
5.37 |
The City of New Orleans conducted an inventory of our 2014 community-wide GHG emissions to the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Inventories (GPC) to provide a baseline from which to measure progress on our reduction goals. We calculated a per-capita comparison with other cities to provide a sense of how we’re doing relatively. These calculations were based on information available in October 2016 through cdp.net and will change over time.
Last year, the City conducted a baseline inventory for 2014 using the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC) and this year, we worked with CURB, a tool developed by C40, the World Bank, and AECOM, to evaluate our proposed actions and estimate how they will help us meet our goal of 50% reduction by 2030.
Our overall baseline inventory is 3.6 million metric tons, or tonnes, of CO2 equivalent, which means we have measured the collection of primary greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) and converted all to be the same base measure of CO2, thereby reporting in CO2 equivalent (CO2e). We outline how energy, transportation, and waste contribute to our pollution and planned actions for reductions throughout this strategy.
If we do nothing to address this pollution, we would have an estimated 4.3 million metric tons of pollution by 2030, while with our goal of 50% reduction below 2014 levels, we’re aiming to have about 1.8 million. This goal is ambitious and achievable. With sustained effort and a few key actions prioritized, we can meet our goal of 50% by 2030 and our interim milestones of 10% reduction by 2020 an 30% by 2025.