Event Recap: Conversation With Brian Swett, Boston's Chief Climate Officer
August 14, 2024
On August 7th, A Better City’s Energy & Environment Committee hosted a meeting, extended to all A Better City members, with Brian Swett, Boston’s first Chief Climate Officer. This is Brian’s second appointment to the city’s leadership team as he served as the Chief of Environment, Energy & Open Space from August 2012 to January 2015. In the interim he worked at Arup fulfilling several roles until becoming their Americas East Leader from April 2022 to June 2024. During his time at Arup, he was an A Better City board member, and an active member of A Better City’s Energy & Environment Advisory Committee. At this meeting, Brian discussed the city’s climate priorities and led a candid discussion about areas of concern and suggestions for improvement. Slides and a recording are both available from this meeting.
Some very high-level takeaways included:
- The City of Boston’s climate action priorities include decarbonization (buildings), resilience (coastal, extreme heat, and precipitation), and energy transition (demand reduction and decarbonization, grid resilience, and city leadership), all within the context of climate justice.
- The City’s Environment, Energy & Open Space Cabinet has a new organization chart (slide 4).
- There is a new Climate Cabinet co-led by Brian Swett and Oliver Sellers-Garcia, the city’s Green New Deal Director and new Environment Commissioner, that will work on the next iteration of Boston’s Climate Action Plan to start in September 2024.
- There is a new Office of Climate Resilience led by Climate Resilience Director, Chris Osgood, (who is also a Senior Advisor to the Mayor), that will focus on implementing Boston’s Climate Ready Boston plans.
We anticipate hosting regular meetings with Brian as the city’s climate work progresses. Feel free to reach out to Yve Torrie with any comments or questions.
