Columbus Climate Action Plan
Since 2020, the City of Columbus has been pursuing our community’s climate goals of reducing pollution (specifically greenhouse gases) by 45% by 2030 and reaching carbon neutral by 2050. In 2021 the City of Columbus, along with community stakeholders and the public, created a Columbus Climate Action Plan to impart environmental justice and serve as a roadmap to meet our climate goals.
Now, the City of Columbus is proud to renew its commitment to achieving our community’s climate goals by updating the Climate Action Plan for 2025. Check out opportunities to learn more and to let us know what you think below!
2025 Update: Columbus Climate Action Plan
The City of Columbus is proud to renew its commitment to achieving our community’s climate goals. To keep Columbus on track to reach a 45% reduction in pollution by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050, we are updating the Columbus Climate Action Plan. The update to the Plan includes adjusting each of our community’s climate actions to ensure we’re achieving our 2030 climate goal and aligning the plan with the progress we have made towards our climate goals.
We want your feedback!
Help Columbus achieve its Climate Action Plan goals. Your input will help shape the 2025 update of the Columbus Climate Action Plan. Take the survey now!
Learn more about the 2025 Update to the Columbus Climate Action Plan
Check out a summary of the DRAFT update to the Columbus Climate Action Plan(PDF, 674KB) .
Columbus Climate Action Plan
The City's first-ever Columbus Climate Action Plan was released in 2021 and is guiding our community's sustainability work.
The City is continuing to track progress toward Climate Action Plan goals and making improvements in how we collect this information.
Regional Planning: Central Ohio Climate Action Plan
Sustainable Columbus is taking our climate action planning to new heights!
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) is an Environmental Protection Agency program that supports communities tackling climate change and air pollution. This planning grant offers funds to create strategies for reducing greenhouse gasses and other identified pollutants. Sustainable Columbus, in partnership with the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), Power A Clean Future Ohio (PCFO), IMPACT Community Action, and The Ohio State University, has received $1 million to support these efforts in the Central Ohio region. This planning effort will cover 10 counties: Franklin, Delaware, Licking, Fairfield, Union, Pickaway, Madison, Perry, Morrow, and Hocking counties. Our focus is on regional climate action, with a special emphasis on benefiting low-income and disadvantaged communities, in line with federal Justice40 goals.
Stay connected with this effort through 2025 by visiting the Central Ohio Climate Action Plan hub site!
Sustainable Neighborhoods
Columbus has a diverse mix of neighborhoods offering residents a unique sense of pride and ownership. Affordable, safe and resource efficient communities are necessary throughout Columbus. Responsible solutions to reduce unsheltered populations, provide equitable access to transportation and services, and connectivity to good job will be required to sustain a thriving community in the face of climate change.
Learn more about water adaptation strategies, equitable access to greenspace, and the Urban Forestry Master Plan.
Buildings
Columbus’ buildings are a major consumer of energy from the local utilities and the largest single source of GHG emissions community-wide; they must be fine-tuned to optimize each kilowatt of energy used. By 2050, buildings must be carbon neutral operating on 100% clean power to achieve the CAP goals.
Learn more about energy and water benchmarking and Clean Energy Columbus.
Waste Reduction
GHG emissions from the waste sector are directly tied to methane emissions, which are 25 times as harmful as CO2e. As the population of Columbus is projected to continue growing, landfill space becomes more constrained. It will be the most efficient use of public dollars to reduce the volume of waste and amount of physical space needed to contain it.
Learn more about Keep Columbus Beautiful, residential recycling, food waste, the Waste Wizard, Recycle Right, Com-Til, and yard waste disposal.
Transportation
Columbus is already setting examples for best practices in large cities that have traditionally been car-centric with the foundational work of Smart Columbus. The transportation sector has many emerging technologies currently under development, and future CAP updates will reflect advancements. Zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) include electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles and allow for technology advances for any other solution that may provide an emission free tailpipe transportation option.
Learn more about LinkUS, equitable electric vehicle adoption, and the Bike Plus effort.