In 2008, the City of Chicago made history by becoming the first major metropolitan area in the U.S. to develop a Climate Action Plan (CAP). The plan set out ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Bringing this commitment to fruition would deliver significant value, while requiring large-scale transformation of the third largest city in the U.S.
Fast forward to 2022, and Chicago is taking bold steps to update its CAP. Collaborating closely with WSP USA, the city is adopting a new approach that aims to reduce carbon emissions by 62 percent by 2040. Together, Chicago and WSP pioneered a model that centers equity and environmental justice within core climate strategies and introduces measures to help the city adapt to the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.
The vision for the CAP required the important and intricate work of centering equity at its core, which meant honoring the input of frontline community members and arranging technical analysis and solutions around their perspectives. Despite the COVID-19 disruption to in-person community sessions, city staff rapidly arranged alternative approaches for community involvement. WSP helped translate technical information for public consumption during virtual town halls and working group sessions and listened carefully to the insights and priorities of Chicagoans.
The broadly inclusive process was itself a means to spark change. So were many of the equity and environmental justice-focused interventions that resulted, notably:
- Equitable, affordable access to electric vehicles, clean transit and broadband networks
- Electrification of municipal, commercial and industrial fleets to reduce air pollution, with a focus on high-pollution, low-income transportation corridors
- Implementation of nature-based climate solutions to store carbon, restore ecosystems, improve air and water quality, and reduce the heat island effect, which disproportionately impacts communities of color — a related change is the expansion of the air quality monitoring network)
- Waste diversion from landfills and pollution-heavy processing, with a view toward more equitable burden-sharing among Chicago communities
- Residential building retrofits, including options for rental housing, and connecting diverse communities to renewable energy power and storage options
- Workforce development strategies to promote inclusion and diversity and expand the clean energy labor force
Based on that valuable and extensive input, the project team shuffled carbon strategies and adoption thresholds to align science-based emissions reduction levers with initiatives that deliver the most meaningful health and economic inclusion benefits to Chicago’s most vulnerable communities.
By pairing technical expertise with a deep and earnest commitment to community involvement and equitable outcomes, this partnership enabled greater learning, smarter work, and production of a more remarkable plan. WSP contributed well-beyond the role of technical advisor and providing GHG modeling, by lending analytical skills to evaluate climate actions for their contributions to local and equitable co-benefit, developing narrative content and supporting the lauded graphic design of the CAP.
The resulting 2022 Chicago CAP establishes a roadmap to bold action and represents a vanguard of next generation climate action plans anchored in inclusion, collaboration and good use of alternative funding. The plan aims to deliver multiple, meaningful benefits to more than 2.8 million residents — as well as hundreds of businesses and dozens of academic institutions — in 77 distinct communities.
The CAP is built around five key pillars that can fundamentally transform the city’s energy, transit, housing stock, labor market and more. Backed by high-impact strategies and clear action steps, the plan’s pillars and associated GHG reduction contributions are:
- Increase access to utility savings and renewable energy, prioritizing households (8 percent)
- Build circular economies to create jobs and reduce waste (3 percent)
- Deliver a robust zero-emission mobility network that connects communities and improves air quality (6 percent)
- Drive equitable development of a clean-energy future (45 percent)
- Strengthen communities and protect health
To achieve these goals, the city will implement wide-ranging strategies that include policy and physical infrastructure to electrify buildings and vehicles; decommission power from fossil fuels; reduce waste and landfilling; make walking, biking or mass transit viable options for all trips; encourage equitable transit-oriented development and enable zero-emission transit and fleets; and facilitate community adaptation to climate impacts.
These strategies advance Chicago’s transformational sustainability journey and have great promise for delivering co-benefits such as greater economic inclusion and reduced costs for the city and its stakeholders, a just transition to renewable energy and more equitable access to critical infrastructure and natural spaces, a reduced pollution burden that can directly improve human health, and enhanced community connectivity and resilience.
Recognizing that low-income communities and communities of color are often the most overburdened by environmental impacts and least equipped to withstand and recover from them, the plan also serves as a deliberate reckoning with the past and is intentionally designed to meaningfully advance equity and inclusion.
The 2022 CAP was jointly developed with guidance from various departments and City-community collaborations to ensure that actions were complementary to existing efforts while also setting new ambitious targets. Building upon the city’s established extreme heat emergency response plans and strategies with actions including planting over 75,000 trees, minimizing hard pavement, and maximizing green space, the plan speaks to the need for neighborhood-level resiliency efforts.
The plan also addresses other increasing climate risks, including frequent heavy downpours that cause flooding, transit disruption and sewage overflows and contamination of local waterways; changing Lake Michigan water levels and temperatures that increase shoreline erosion and property damage; and extreme winter weather that may restrict mobility and impact the availability of energy and lifeline services.
This forward-looking 2022 Climate Action Plan promises to transform the social, natural and built environment in Chicago. It is helping the city evolve to reduce risks, better rebound from the increasingly severe chronic stressors and frequent climate shocks and promote economic and human health for generations to come. The plan is a testament to the power of community-led change, thoughtful collaboration, and cutting-edge technical expertise to deliver transformational results in the fight against climate change. By prioritizing equity and inclusion in the development and implementation of the CAP, Chicago is setting an example for other cities and communities to follow. The path towards a sustainable and just future may not be easy, but with bold leadership and collective action, it is within reach.
