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!
Columbus Climate Action Plan
The City of Columbus is proud to continue 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, the original Columbus Climate Action Plan (published in 2021) was updated during 2025 and is now available. The Plan includes adjustments to our community’s climate actions to align the plan with the progress we have made towards our climate goals.
The City is continuing to track progress toward Climate Action Plan goals and making improvements in how we collect this information.
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.