City and County Climate Action Planning

In 2019, the City of Charlottesville, the County of Albemarle, and University of Virginia joined to work collaboratively to develop their climate actions plans to advance local climate solutions. Since then, the three institutions have been collecting community input to help shape staff recommendations to City Council, County Board of Supervisors, and UVA’s Corporate Board.

This page is meant to be an easy-to-understand overview of the process and a guide for you to get involved.

Get Involved!

The County has already developed its Climate Action Plan - Phase 1 and the City is developing its climate action plan (CAP) using community-input. The City’s timeline is driven by its 2017 commitment to the Global Covenant of Mayors. In that same year, the County passed a resolution reaffirming its commitment to address climate change and the importance of climate action planning. Later in 2019, the County also rejoined the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (formally known as “ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability”).

Community input is of paramount importance to setting ambitious, leadership-level climate action plans that will include the needed climate actions and policies to successfully achieve our recently established climate goals. The City and County have different processes and timelines for developing new goals, so check out the details below.

Do not hesitate to reach out to policy@theclimatecollaborative.org and tell us your ideas and suggestions.

If you are willing to be more involved, consider joining our Climate Policy Task Force. This group will help guide and develop C3's climate policy recommendations, research, outreach and advocacy initiatives. Email us today for more information.

For City Residents

Where we are

On July 1, 2019 the Charlottesville City Council voted to adopt the goal of 45% reduction in community-wide greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050! In doing so, Charlottesville became the first city in the Commonwealth of Virginia to commit to carbon neutrality. Read about this milestone in our blog, “City’s Bold Climate Goal Puts Cville Out Front in the State.”

Public comments about further development of the CAP can be submitted to City Staff by emailing energy@charlottesville.org.

NEXT STEPS

Now that the City has adopted a new emissions reduction goal, staff will begin developing the CAP to guide the path forward to reaching these goals. To get involved in the planning, check out the City’s website, or subscribe to C3’s email updates to learn about and support our recommendations throughout the process. You can also follow us on social media to stay up to date with the latest climate action planning news (@c3climate).

For County Residents

Where we are

On Wednesday, October 16th, 2019, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors adopted a GHG emission reduction target of 45% by 2030, and “net zero” by 2050. Nearly one year later, the County Board of Supervisors approved their Climate Action Plan - Phase 1.

C3’s Recommendations helped to strengthen the Albemarle’s CAP by recognizing the importance of developing targets using the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-limited), regular GHG Inventories, and a greater commitment to equity.

Share with us your thoughts about Albemarle’s CAP process by emailing us at policy@theclimatecollaborative.org.

NEXT STEPS

Albemarle County is currently updating their greenhouse gas inventory and will begin working on Phase 2 of the Climate Action Plan in 2021. To share your thoughts about specific strategies you’d like to see in Phase 2, send an email to climate@albemarle.org

More information about the City, County and UVA’s joint efforts surrounding Climate Action Planning can be found at climateactiontogether.org.

This page was updated December of 2020. C3 will update this page and keep your informed as new information becomes available!