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Climate Change

In 2006, the City of Columbia mayor signed the US Conference of Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, and the City's Climate Protection Action Campaign was born.

A large group of people - including environmentalists, neighborhood representatives, local business leaders and City staff - were convened to establish a local plan to emission levels of the City consistent with the commitment made in the Climate Protection Agreement. This resulted in the City's climate action plan and the official creati

on of the Climate Protection Action Campaign.

CPAC's Climate Action Plan provides measures to reduce emission levels of the City of Columbia consistent with the commitment made in the US Conference Mayors Climate Protection Resolution. This plan guides the work of CPAC and can be accessed here.

The initiative grew, and in 2008, a sustainability facilitator was hired to manage the program. CPAC continued to work through the Action Plan. While being initiated to impact climate change, CPAC became the City's environmental clearing house, focusing on air quality, energy conservation, water conservation and recycling/waste reduction.

As more and more action plan have been completed and new programs and technologies have evolved, CPAC has been a part of many exciting sustainable programs and projects: City of Columbia Green Business Membership, Green is Good for Business Conference, Green Business Boot Camps, Baseline Emissions Report, Internal City Government Energy Audit and a Energy Efficient Lighting replacement program in City office buildings.

In 2017, CPAC evaluated the City's sustainability initiatives with the STAR Community Rating System ^TM (STAR), then the nation’s leading sustainability framework and certification program. Built by and for local governments, STAR was a catalyst for local action and is transforming the way that communities address their social, economic and environmental progress. CPAC received a high three-STAR rating in late 2017. STAR has since become part of the US Green Building Council's LEED for Cities and Communities program, but the City of Columbia is still pursuing recommendations identified via STAR.

On this page, we'll highlight news and happenings about climate change, here in the Midlands and beyond. In the meantime, please contact us if we can assist you with any questions and/or additional information.

Did You Know?

The current pace of global average temperature rise puts one out of every six species on Earth at risk of extinction. (Source: Discover Magazine)