Published February 27 2026
Bellevue’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 4.6% from 2023 to 2024, driven by lower overall energy use, as well as a decrease in fuel-intensive transportation and an increase in cleaner grid electricity due to Puget Sound Energy’s growing reliance on renewable energy. Since 2011, municipal emissions (from city operations) have dropped 52%.
These results are according to the city’s updated Environmental Performance Dashboard, which also includes the latest greenhouse gas emissions inventory, tree canopy assessment and other environmental performance metrics. The dashboard is part of the Sustainable Bellevue Plan, a strategic roadmap guiding Bellevue’s goals and actions in environmental sustainability.
Community members are encouraged to attend the Sustainable Bellevue Townhall on Monday, March 23, 6:30-8 p.m. at City Hall to learn more about these trends, Bellevue’s efforts to enhance sustainability and reduce emissions, as well as to provide input on how you’d like to get involved. For more information, visit the city’s online calendar.
The city has set a goal to reduce communitywide greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050. Despite ongoing population and job growth since 2011, communitywide emissions have dropped 12% from 2011, while per-capita emissions have declined by 30%. This progress is largely related to investments in transportation patterns, more energy efficient buildings, renewable energy, and electric vehicles.
Tree Canopy Assessment
As part of the city’s updated Environmental Performance Dashboard, Bellevue also completed its most recent tree canopy assessment, which analyzed 2023 canopy coverage to identify recent changes to the city’s urban forest. Data found that the city’s tree canopy decreased slightly from 39.6% to 39.3% from 2021 to 2023, representing a loss of about 70 acres of tree canopy citywide.
Most of the reduction occurred in suburban residential areas, while tree canopy in city parks actually increased by 38 acres. Canopy trends varied by neighborhood.
Since 2020, Bellevue has partnered with King Conservation District and PlantGeo to assess canopy coverage on a biannual basis. See the full summary reports for the GHG Inventory and Tree Canopy Assessment at Environmental Stewardship.
Opportunities to Learn
Results from the 2024 greenhouse gas emissions inventory and other sustainability performance metrics can be viewed on Bellevue’s Environmental Performance Dashboard.
The city’s Sustainable Bellevue Plan was updated in November and outlines actions being implemented by the sustainability team to reach Bellevue’s 2030 and 2050 targets.