Residents ask government leaders to show measurable sustainability results and triumphs

There’s a growing urgency for cities and counties to go green, says Sol Salinas, executive vice president, sustainability lead at Capgemini Americas, a service-based company that provides consulting, digital transformation and outsourcing services to many organizations, including government agencies. It partners with organizations to transform and manage their operations by harnessing the power of technology.

Salinas says citizens are increasingly pressuring public sector officials to perform their duties and activities with an eye on sustainability, as well as optimizing for a sustainable future. Governments, he adds, should be able to measure and demonstrate how their work is driving the outcomes that the community expects. He cites the following as key green initiatives for communities and the media: quality of water, air and watersheds; and delivering sustainable infrastructure results and achievements.

Salinas says sustainability is a crucial area for government leaders to demonstrate a vision for the future of the community. He adds that government officials can use green initiatives to engage new generations of citizens and community leaders.

He recommends that local governments consider hiring a chief sustainability officer (CSO) who would work with all city teams to build and take action on a roadmap to optimize for sustainability. Salinas also encourages local government officials to recruit leaders in various industries, business, academia and not-for-profits. This team, he believes, could serve as a core group of stakeholders to help drive the sustainability agenda in the community, and could offer valuable input on the following question: What public-private partnerships might best enable scaling your ideas and help to tap into federal and state funding for the projects you want to achieve?

Salinas further suggests that the CSO be positioned with a government’s new business development leaders to help map opportunities that federal and state agencies fund. The CSO could also work to develop public-private partnerships to accelerate sustainability action among business and industrial entities within the community.

The CSO, says Salinas, could team up with utilities, heavy industry and construction sectors to optimize for sustainable energy consumption and materials production. He points to a federal program, the Federal Buy Clean Initiative, which aims to spur the development of low-carbon construction materials made in America while supporting good-paying jobs. These materials include sustainable concrete, asphalt, glass and steel.

Salinas outlines two strategic ways for cities and counties to create a sustainability impact.

1. Build an actionable roadmap of high-impact sustainability projects that tap into federal, state and regional funding. He says the roadmap should focus on clean building construction and operation, energy optimization and transition in all dimensions, clean materials, equipment procurement and fleet electrification or green hydrogen conversion.
2. Build a “sustainability ecosystem hub” for the city, county or region, with a focus on engaging key stakeholders to develop and use new sustainability policies aligned to federal, state and regional policies. Salinas further advises: “Within the hub build a roadmap of the biggest sustainability projects that might take multiple stakeholders.” He says those stakeholders can team up with the city or county to deliver good sustainability results.

Salinas says cities and counties can quickly achieve sustainability wins. “In the immediate short term, build your sustainability project roadmap to tap into the massive federal and state funding opportunities that have emerged across the U.S. Align to any big private sector sustainability projects in your community to ensure that you are at the forefront of sustainability leadership.”

He suggests that government officials should reach out to public and private thought leaders for idea-sharing that can help accelerate development of the jurisdiction’s sustainability project roadmap. Salinas adds: “Re-use what is working for other local governments and have a ‘sustainability-sharing capability’ that includes sharing your sustainability success stories with schools, media and citizens to ensure that your impact is being seen and heard.”

Capgemini offers a publication that discusses the impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. The “GHG Impact Methodology” report provides a five-step approach for calculating the carbon impact of projects.

OMNIA Partners Public Sector lists more than 20 cooperative contracts with “Sustainability” as the keyword at this site.

Michael Keating is senior editor for American City & County. Contact him at [email protected].