North Raleigh Today

The City of Raleigh has been awarded the prestigious Community-Wide Award for its implementation of the Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP). This recognition comes from the 2024 American Planning Association (APA) Sustainable Communities Division Awards for Excellence in Sustainability.

The award acknowledges community plans that excel in addressing social equity and justice, protecting the environment, enhancing community health and quality of life, and building community resilience. Raleigh's CCAP was noted for its comprehensive and innovative approach to climate change, focusing on three primary goals: reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, addressing equity, environmental justice, and community health, and building resilience to climate impacts.

“Raleigh is leading the way locally and nationally in climate action, and this is thanks to the amazing partnerships and community leaders who really show up and make change happen,” said Megan Anderson, Sustainability Director. “I am so proud of the work we’ve been able to achieve, along with Raleigh’s leadership in making sure that equity, environmental justice, health and community resilience are always prioritized in our work."

The APA recognized Raleigh for its leadership in designing CCAP and ongoing implementation of high-impact climate action strategies. Key highlights include:

- Raleigh being the first municipality to receive a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Environmental Literacy Program. In partnership with groups such as Partners for Environmental Justice and North Carolina’s State Climate Office, Raleigh was awarded over $440,000 to build climate resilience in neighborhoods disproportionately affected by heat and flooding.

- The creation of an electric vehicle (EV) implementation rollout strategy and EV infrastructure mapping tool prioritizing community equity. This initiative includes a goal to convert Raleigh’s fleet of more than 4,700 vehicles to electric or clean fuels over the next decade.

- The Solarize the Triangle program broke national records for community solar sign-ups. This program also piloted installing solar panels on homes of low- to middle-income residents.

- Being named a Bloomberg American Sustainable City provides Raleigh with an innovation team focused on closing the racial wealth gap through various projects.

- The development of Sustainable Business Toolkit and Sustainable Neighborhood Toolkit offers free resources for businesses, organizations, neighborhoods, and individuals aiming to enhance sustainability efforts.

The CCAP was developed with input from hundreds of community stakeholders alongside close partnerships with all City departments. These efforts ensure that climate action and equity are embedded into both short-term initiatives and long-term planning projects.

To learn more about Raleigh's climate actions, visit the Raleigh Community Climate Action webpages or view their Climate Implementation Reports.

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