Alliance members are working to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius by reducing emissions, accelerating action, centering equity, and tracking progress. 

Explore Washington's policies and actions across the Alliance's 10 key policy areas. Numbers presented below only reflect the number of policies in this database and thus may not reflect all climate policies pursued.

washington

GHG Targets + Governance

Just Transition + Equity

Industry

Pricing Carbon + Valuing Damages

Electricity Generation

Transportation

Resilience

Natural + Working Lands

Climate Finance

Buildings

total

HB 1170 Ch 169 2023-24, Integrated Climate Change Response Strategy - Updates

This legislation amended the statute that authorized Washington's initial integrated climate response strategy. It requires state agencies to produce an updated statewide climate resilience strategy by September 30, 2024 and to provide recommendations on a governance structure for coordinating climate resilience activities. By updating the strategy, the state will be able to bring together work across multiple agencies, identify gaps and actions that address the highest climate change risks and vulnerabilities and embed environmental justice and equity in our state work to advance climate resilience.

The law also requires ongoing progress reports and establishes a four-year cycle for strategy updates. It also directs the state to better coordinate around federal funding opportunities for climate resilience through an interagency work group. The law strengthens requirements for agencies to integrate climate change into their activities and decision-making processes. Finally, the law designates the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group as the technical and scientific clearinghouse on climate impacts for state agencies.

On March 20, 2024, the Washington Department of Commerce filed a CR-103 (PDF) and final rules (PDF) to update Commerce regulations in Chapter 194-24 WAC to reflect new versions of appliance efficiency standards for electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), residential ventilating fans, and air purifiers. Appliance Standards Updates apply to appliances manufactured on or after January 1, 2024.

Appliance Standards Updates for Residential Ventilating Fans, Air Purifiers, and Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment

As Washington’s lead agency on climate change, the Department of Ecology is working to update the state's current Climate Response Strategy by September 30, 2024, as directed by the Legislature under the Integrated Climate Change Response Strategy. The Department of Ecology released a draft of the Strategy and accepted public comments from June 11 to July 11, 2024.

Draft: Washington State Climate Resilience Strategy

HB 1589

HB 1589 requires the state’s largest utility to file plans outlining how it will meet the statutory emissions requirements, including achieving net-zero by 2050, on or after January 2026 and every four years afterwards. The plans must contain programs to advance gas decarbonization for customers, using alternative energy to the maximum practicable extent, meet cost targets, and include leak reductions.

Washington Priority Climate Action Plan

The State of Washington (Washington) received funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) to develop plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other harmful air pollution. The Washington PCAP presents a focused list of measures to reduce GHG emissions and harmful air pollution and maximize the benefits of climate action in overburdened communities in Washington. Many of the quantified priority measures contained in this PCAP are based on existing state, local and tribal, climate and clean energy plans and programs.  The Department of Commerce (Commerce) was responsible for developing the PCAP, in partnership with the entities named in the Acknowledgements section. Commerce is aware that that are many additional priority actions for each sector that could be included in this PCAP and acknowledges that the list of priority measures included in Section 2.2 is not intended to be inclusive of all possible priority actions available to tribes, state agencies and local jurisdictions. Instead, these priority actions focus on measures for which an eligible entity is planning to seek Phase 2 CPRG funding, rather than an exhaustive list of all possible priority measures available to reduce emissions in the state.

Washington Solar for All

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Washington would receive a $156 million Solar for All grant to make solar energy accessible to income-qualified Washingtonians. Washington will launch several programs that will expand solar access to income-qualified residents and frontline communities throughout the state. These programs will complement existing programs and policy to support distributed solar in the state. Washington’s proposal includes a program focused on single-family homeowners, a program that helps multifamily affordable housing properties access other state and federal solar incentives, and a program focused on Tribal solar deployment that will be co-designed with Tribal governments. These programs will be focused on ensuring the benefits of solar accrue to low-income households throughout the state, with a specific focus on environmental justice communities in alignment with Justice40 and with Washington’s environmental justice commitments.