In 2023, the Metropolitan Council received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to create a regional climate action plan. The Met Council is partnering with local governments and community members across an 11-county metro region to better understand our climate emissions and prioritize strategies to reduce those emissions. This work supports one of the Met Council’s five Imagine 2050 regional goals: We lead on addressing climate change.
About the Regional Climate Action Plan
The Met Council is leading an effort with local government partners and regional stakeholders to develop the following a regional climate action plan, centered on the voices of those most impacted by climate change in the region.
The first step was developing a
Priority Climate Action Plan (PDF) which includes:
- Updates to our Twin Cities Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory
- Identification of GHG reduction strategies
- An analysis of benefits and co-benefits of the GHG strategies
- Preliminary analysis on roles and abilities to implement strategies
Watch a webinar about the Priority Climate Action Plan
here (see slides from the webinar
here).
The next step is developing a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan which includes:
- Updates and expansions of items in the priority plan
- GHG emissions projections, including refinements to the GHG Strategy Planning Tool
- Regional GHG targets
- Workforce analysis
- Identification of potential funding sources for strategies
A draft of the Comprehensive Climate Action Plan will be released for public comment in Fall 2025 before a final version is complete in December 2025.
Planning begins in community
We are expanding on our engagement in ways we’ve never been able to before, to develop a regional climate action plan. Through the Community Climate Collaboration, we are reaching community members across the region including those whose voices historically have been excluded in planning processes and who often bear the burden of the impacts of climate change. The engagement also focuses on youth who will inherit the region and its climate.
Organizations taking part in the Community Climate Collaboration include: Brooklyn Bridge Alliance for Youth, COPAL, Hope for Earth, Hmong American Farmers Association, Islamic Center of Minnesota, Karen Organization of Minnesota, Minnesota 4-H, and Park Plaza Cooperative.
Committees and Advisory Groups
In addition to engaging with community organizations, the Met Council is collaborating with partners across the region to develop the climate action plan.
Climate Pollution Reduction Grant steering committee is comprised of city, county, and tribal staff from around the 11-county region. This committee helps guide the plan development and stakeholder engagement. Members include: City of Bloomington, City of Carver, Chisago County, City of Coon Rapids, Dakota County, City of Eagan, Hennepin County, City of Mahtomedi, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, City of Minneapolis, Saint Croix County, City of Saint Paul, City of Savage.
Workforce Work Group is comprised of public, non-profit, and private sector organizations. This work group advises the workforce analysis for the regional climate action plan.