Environment and Sustainability

Mayor Lightfoot is protecting the environment, and making Chicago a more sustainable city.

To that end, the Mayor has:

• Allocated $188 million to climate and environmental justice initiatives in the Office of Sustainability’s FY 2022 budget–the largest environmental investment in the city’s history. 
• Announced the Green Recovery Agenda to lead on 4 strategies: the Climate Action Plan; 100% renewable energy procurement; a citywide building decarbonization strategy, and a new utility franchise to support a green and equitable recovery from the pandemic. 
• Launched the 2022 Climate Action Plan to update Chicago’s climate goals to reduce carbon emissions while increasing household savings, advancing environmental justice, and improving community health.
• Updated Chicago’s tree-planting strategy to more equitably expand the program, using public health data and community partnerships to plant 75,000 trees over the next 5 years.
• Led the Chicago Building Decarbonization Working Group to identify strategies to equitably reduce 70% of greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s building stock through retrofits, electrification and building code updates.