San Francisco Targets Net-Zero by 2040

San Francisco has updated its climate plan and set a citywide target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. (sf.gov) Mayor Daniel Lurie released the five-year update on April 16, 2026, and signed legislation to align the city’s official climate goals with the new plan. City Hall said the roadmap is meant to cut emissions, lower household costs, and improve public health. (sf.gov) The plan lays out targets across seven sectors: energy supply, building operations, transportation, housing and land use, circular economy, healthy ecosystems, and water supply. San Francisco Environment says the update is the first in five years and is being tracked through a public dashboard. (sfenvironment.org, sfclimateplan.org) The headline numbers are tighter than the city’s older benchmarks. The plan calls for a 61% cut from 1990 emissions levels by 2030 and net-zero by 2040. (sfenvironment.org) In buildings, the city says it wants to decarbonize about 18,000 buildings by 2030 and make all buildings zero-emission by 2040. In transportation, it targets a 25% drop in vehicle miles traveled from 2019 levels by 2030 and 100% zero-emission cars and small trucks by 2040. (sfenvironment.org) The plan also reaches beyond power and cars. It sets a goal to cut solid waste generation 15% from 2015 levels by 2030, reduce landfill disposal by 50%, and lower emissions from building materials 40% by 2035 from a 2026 baseline. (sfenvironment.org) San Francisco is updating the plan after reporting that citywide greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were 48% below 1990 levels, with per-capita emissions down 53%. The city said those reductions held even as population had grown 12% since 1990. (sf.gov) The new plan lands as local officials try to connect climate policy to utility bills and indoor air quality. On the same day, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the mayor announced an Electrify Your Home program that offers CleanPowerSF customers $50-a-month bill credits for each gas appliance they replace with an electric one. (sf.gov, cleanpowersf.org) CleanPowerSF says it already serves more than 380,000 residents and businesses with electricity, which gives the city a built-in customer base for switching homes off gas. The climate plan’s energy section says San Francisco will keep offering 100% clean electricity now, expand access by 2030, and move all energy uses citywide to 100% clean by 2040. (sfpuc.gov, sfenvironment.org) The release was timed with San Francisco Climate Week, which City Hall said would bring more than 60,000 people to roughly 700 events across the city and Bay Area. The city’s next test is not the target itself, but whether those sector deadlines turn into funded projects and enforced rules before 2030. (sf.gov)