Grand Rapids Now Has a Climate Plan. What's Next?

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On August 12th, the City Commission voted 6-1 to pass the Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) and prioritize 20 of its items for the City to begin working on immediately (here’s an article). This is a milestone for all the community groups and organizations who have engaged, contributed, and mobilized on this plan the past several years. 

THANK YOU to everyone who sent a letter, called a commissioner, voted in a yes-voting official in the last election, or otherwise contributed. (A special thanks to our collaborative partners at the Community Collaboration on Climate Change (C4) for their community engagement work!) This was a movement-wide, all-hands effort, and we can celebrate this achievement! 

What does this mean? We now have a roadmap for community-wide action to meet 2030 and 2050 greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets, while adapting to the impacts of climate change that are unavoidable. 

What happens next: City staff will work on implementation assessment and details over the next several months. The City government will work on its 20 priority items. In the meantime, our coalition members, supporters, and community partners identify which parts of the plan we can contribute to best.

How can you support implementation efforts going forward?

• Thank your City Commissioners for passing the plan, and hold them accountable to put the plan into action and fund it (contact them regularly!)

• Stay engaged with our coalition as we contribute to the implementation process. Sign up for our mailing list if you haven’t already! 

• Join one of our working groups dedicated to one of the plan’s focus areas: Energy Systems, Residential Homes, Buildings & Industry, Transportation, Nature Based Solutions, Food Systems, or one of our other working groups (e.g., Art). Email sarah@grclimate.org to get connected with a working group!

Though this is a milestone in our efforts for climate justice in Grand Rapids, we know there is no time to waste in acting on and adapting to the climate crisis. It’s time to act on this plan. Let’s move into this next stage of engagement together.