Climate and Sustainability Goals
The City of Missoula and its partners have adopted ambitious climate goals over the years, including:
1. Carbon Neutral in City Operations by 2025
- Before the City of Missoula hired a Climate and Sustainability Team, the Missoula community set the City on a pathway to carbon neutrality.
- A University of Montana team conducted and released the City of Missoula’s first municipal greenhouse gas emissions inventory in 2010. (Please explore our Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories over the years.)
- Shortly thereafter, former Mayor John Engen convened a volunteer task force to create emissions reduction goals for City operations. The task force wrote the City’s 2012 municipal Conservation & Climate Action Plan, which focused on the climate impacts of the City’s municipal operations – i.e., the facilities, fleets, and lands owned and/or operated by the City of Missoula. The plan also established the goal of carbon neutral municipal operations by 2025.
- Interim Goals for Reduction from 2008 Baseline: 10% by 2015; 30% by 2017; and 50% by 2020
2. 100% Clean Electricity by 2030
3. Carbon Neutral in Community by 2050
- In 2015, representatives from the City of Missoula, Climate Smart Missoula, and St. Patrick Hospital wrote and released the Missoula Community Climate Smart Action Plan, establishing the goal of carbon neutrality in our broader community by 2050.
- The plan addresses the climate impacts from the Missoula community, including the buildings, industry, transportation, and open lands in the entire Missoula Urban Area.
- FYI, our Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories include community greenhouse gas emissions inventories conducted over the years.
4. Zero Waste by 2050 (i.e., 90% Waste Reduction by 2050)
- The City’s Zero Waste Plan outlines how Missoula can reduce the amount of waste that is delivered to the landfill by investing in a circular system for resource use.
- Please check out the Zero by Fifty website, your resource for all things zero waste in Missoula, to find zero waste tips, service providers, etc.
- Interim Waste Reduction Goals: 30% or better by 2025, 40% or better by 2030, 60% or better by 2040
5. Build a Resilient Community
City's Climate Lens and Policies
The City of Missoula uses three decision lenses to guide implementing the goals in the City’s Strategic Plan, and one of those lenses is Climate and Resilience. The Climate and Sustainability Team is working with departments across the City to create a “climate lens toolkit” to help City staff to consider climate when making decisions from purchasing to development, and everywhere in between.
In 2022, Missoula City Council passed a Climate Lens Resolution directing staff to create and implement this climate lens, which will include tools such as policy, education, and process changes. In addition, two administrative rules have been passed thus far that help the City towards its goals of emissions reductions and climate resilience: