Indy Recognized As One of 105 Cities Globally to Score an “A” for Leading Climate Action

INDIANAPOLIS—The City of Indianapolis has been recognized as a global leader on environmental action and transparency, achieving a place on the 'Cities A List' for the second consecutive year from environmental impact non-profit CDP. In the last reporting year, Indy has acted to develop robust climate change strategies, track and act to limit and reduce emissions, assess and mitigate climate risks, and transparently report this information in its 2019 disclosure to CDP.

Formerly named Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP named 105 cities as leaders on climate action and transparency in its Cities A List for the 2019 disclosure cycle, including both the cities of Indianapolis and Bloomington in the Hoosier state.

"I am proud of the work our office has been able to achieve in beginning to implement actions described in our Thrive Indianapolis plan," said Katie Robinson, director of the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability. "At Mayor Hogsett's direction, our city is committing itself to the transparency of emissions data and prioritizing actions that reduce our emissions profile."

To score an A from CDP, a city must have a city-wide emissions inventory, have set an emissions reduction target, have published a climate action plan and have completed a climate adaptation plan to demonstrate how it will tackle climate hazards now and in the future. 
 
In 2019, CDP scored cities A (Leadership), B (Management), C (Awareness), and D (Disclosure) based on the completeness and quality of their data, as well as the level of action taken. This year, CDP is embarking on its 10th annual disclosure cycle for cities. The first cycle in 2011 included 48 cities disclosing their climate data, as compared to more than 850 in 2019. 

“Congratulations to Indy!” said Katie Walsh, Head of Cities, States and Regions for CDP North America. “It’s exciting to see the U.S. and Canada leading with the most A List Cities this year — 34 and 7 respectively. They are demonstrating how municipal governments can safeguard citizens in the face of our new environmental reality and build a climate-safe future. We look forward to seeing other cities follow the lead of Indianapolis and other cities on our A List.” 

The full Cities A List is published here.

About the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability:
Since 2008, the Indianapolis Office of Sustainability ("SustainIndy") has worked to address the impacts of climate change by identifying long-term cost savings, building our economy, improving the local environment and enhancing our quality of life through sustainable and resilient solutions. In 2018, the Office's work was further accelerated when Indianapolis was selected as one of 25 US cities to share a $70 million prize from Bloomberg Philanthropies supporting efforts at reducing carbon emissions. 
Follow along on Twitter at: @SustainIndy

About the Thrive Indianapolis plan: 
Adopted in 2019, the Thrive Indianapolis plan is the first sustainability and resilience action plan in our city’s history, bringing together City departments, County agencies, community partners and residents to chart a course for an Indianapolis that is equitable, healthier and prepared for the challenges of the 21st century. The result is a plan with 16 key objectives and 59 ambitious but achievable actions that, in coordination with community partners, Indianapolis will use as a road map to accomplish carbon neutrality by 2050.
More information is at the Thrive Indianapolis website here.

About CDP:
CDP is a global non-profit that drives companies, cities and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Voted number one climate research provider by investors and working with institutional investors with assets of $96 trillion, CDP leverages investor and buyer power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. More than 8,400 companies with over 50% of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2019. This is in addition to the more than 920 cities, states and regions who disclosed, making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition.
Visit https://cdp.net/en/cities or follow @CDP to find out more.