Several communities in the Chicago region have developed climate action plans. These plans typically include mitigation and adaptation strategies.

If you know of a plan that isn’t included in this list, please contact us.

Since the announcement that the US will back out of the Paris Agreement on climate change— several cities from Illinois, including Chicago, Elgin, Evanston and Highland Park– and the Illinois Attorney General– have signed the open letter in support of climate action.

municipal climate action plans and agreements in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan & Wisconsin

Many municipalities have signed climate agreements; others have taken the further step of developing climate action plans; some of these are broadly defined as long-range or sustainability plans.

Current climate agreements include:
We Are Still In marked by ^
Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy marked by *
Chicago Climate Charter marked by +
Ready for 100 marked by &

Some of the cities have also signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, affirming their support for the 2005 Kyoto Protocol.

Alton Climate Action Plan (March 2011) *

Ann Arbor, MI ^ *

Ashland, WI *

Aurora Sustainability Plan (2009)

Barrington, IL +

Buchanan, MI ^

Bloomington, IN ^

Carmel, In ^

Chicago Climate Action Plan (September 2008) and Resilient Chicago Plan (February 2019) ^ * +

Dane County, WI ^

Detroit, MI ^ +

Elgin Sustainability Action Plan (August 2011) ^

East Lansing, MI ^

Eau Claire, WI &

Evanston Climate Action and Resilience Plan (2018) and the previous Evanston Climate Action Plan (November 2008) ^ * + &

Franklin Park, IL +

Fort Wayne, IN ^

Gary, IN +

Geneva, IL +

Glendale, WI ^

Grand Rapids, MI ^ *

Grandville, MI ^

Hanover Park, IL +

Highland Park Community Sustainability Strategic Plan (August 2010) ^

Indianapolis, IN ^ *

La Crosse, WI *

Lake County Strategy for a Sustainable Lake County (2009, updated 2015)

Lombard Local Climate Action Plan (January 2012)

Madison, WI ^ &

Middleton, WI &

Milwaukee, WI ^ * +

Monroe County, IN ^

Montgomery, IL +

Niles Environmental Action Plan (February 2013)

Oak Park River Forest Sustainability Plan (June 2011) ^ +

Park Forest Sustainability Plan (May 2012) +

Racine, WI *

River Forest (and Oak Park) Sustainability Plan (June 2011) +

Schaumburg Green Action Plan (2009)

Sheboygan, WI +

South Bend, IN ^ *

Traverse City, MI &

Urbana Climate Action Plan (phase 2) (August 2012) *

Waukegan, IL +

Wisconsin Rapids, WI *

Woodstock Environmental Plan (2010)

^ mayors of these cities, and others, have signed the open letter in support of the Paris Agreement: We Are Still In

* these cities, and others, have signed the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy

+ these cities, and others, have signed on to the Chicago Climate Charter

& the mayors of these cities, and others, have pledged support for Ready for 100 and a community-wide transition to renewable energy.

climate action plans for nature

Conservation organizations are seeing the effects of climate change on natural areas and are making plans for mitigation, adaptation and education.

Chicago Wilderness Climate Action Plan for Nature (brochure) (March 2010)

CW-Climate-Action-Plan-for-Nature_Brochure_6.21.10 Download

Chicago Climate Action Plan for Nature (full text)

CW-Climate-Action-Plan-for-Nature-final-17-March-2010 Download

National Park Service Climate Friendly Parks

Adaptation Workbook for urban trees

regional sustainability and climate action plans

Regional plans for Illinois address issues across municipal boundaries and sometimes include explicit climate change strategies in broader planning processes.

Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning / CMAP ONTO 2050 (October 2018)

Greenest Region Compact (April 2018)

The Chicago Regional Green Transit Plan (May 2012)

Cook County, Illinois ^

Illinois Climate Change Advisory Group / Illinois EPA

U.S. Climate Alliance (Illinois joined January 2019)

Illinois joined the U.S. Climate Alliance in January 2019, committing to “advance the goals of the Paris Agreement…., to track and record progress…., and to accelerate policies to reduce carbon pollution and promote clean energy….” Wisconsin and Indiana have not joined, as of January 2019.

In Wisconsin, technical reports are available from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts and personal stories featured on Climate Wisconsin.

In northern Indiana and northern Illinois, the technical reports referenced in the Chicago Climate Action Plan will be useful.