Local government steps up: Salt Lake City is responding to changing climate with forward-thinking strategy

Salt Lake City invites residents to help shape its climate action plan, "Climate Forward SLC"

Sept. 15, 2025

While climate change is a global crisis, many impacts are being tackled on local, community levels. Salt Lake City has been a leader in Utah, first committing to climate action in 2002 with the Kyoto Protocol. Since then, the City has achieved a lot, but much has also changed and evolved.

To refresh critical future steps, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the City's Sustainability Department recently launched Climate Forward SLC, a process to update the City's climate strategy.

This effort, expected to take nine to 12 months, will identify key priorities to help the City reach its 2040 community greenhouse gas reduction goal, reduce air pollution, and build more resilient neighborhoods. The strategy will be accompanied by a list of near-term actions to guide the Sustainability Department and other inter-departmental efforts over the next five years and beyond.

"At a time when other levels of government are disinvesting from programs to cut pollution and tackle climate change, we know local government needs to continue stepping up and we are," said Mayor Mendenhall. "Air pollution, wildfires, drought, heat-all of these impacts are felt across Salt Lake City and they affect our health, resiliency, economy, and the well-being of our families."

It will include priorities encompassing energy, buildings, transportation, waste, climate resiliency, and more.

Salt Lake City invites people from across the city to share their vision for Climate Forward SLC. Residents can ensure their voices are heard by completing the SLC Climate Plan Community Survey. The survey will be open to the public through October 31.

"We want to hear your ideas and concerns as the City aligns its strategies to cut pollution and make our city as resilient as possible to climate impacts," said Debbie Lyons, Sustainability Director for Salt Lake City.

In 2016, Salt Lake City adopted a joint Mayor-Council resolution to achieve 100% renewable energy for the community by 2032 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% percent by 2040 (compared to a 2009 baseline). In 2019, the City Council moved the target date up two years, to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2030.

Since then, the City team and partners have:

· Developed the Utah Renewable Communities program to support net-100% clean electricity for the community;

· Built an 80 MW solar farm to support Salt Lake City municipal operations;

· Invested in transit;

· Expanded our bike lane network;

· Launched the Clean Air SLC to offer equipment and information to improve air quality at the neighborhood level;

· Reduced waste; and

· Began investing in electrified transportation for the City fleet and community.

Climate Forward SLC aims to reaffirm the City's climate goals, refresh its core strategies, and focus on the critical steps needed in the next five years and beyond. It builds off work done on the SL-CLEAR program, funded by the EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grants, led by Salt Lake City. The Climate Forward SLC climate plan will be presented to City Council for discussion and potential adoption in 2026.

Opportunities for community input

In addition to the online survey, the City's Sustainability Department has been getting the word out and seeking input at community events throughout the summer and fall. The Climate Forward SLC webpage provides more information about the update, what the City is doing, and how community members can help create a more healthy, vibrant, and resilient SLC.

Once a draft of the plan is available, there will be further opportunities for the public to engage with the process.

Tags: air pollution, Climate Forward SLC, climate resiliency, Community survey, drought, greenhouse gas reduction goal, health, Kyoto Protocol, Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City Council, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Sustainability Department, wildfires