National Sustainability Society awards Minnesota’s Climate-Smart Municipalities Program with 2024 Achievement Award

(ABC 6 News) — At its first national conference, the National Sustainability Society presented its 2024 Achievement Award to the University of Minnesota’s Climate-Smart Municipalities Program.

The Climate-Smart Municipalities Program connects diverse international stakeholders and leaders from twelve cities in Minnesota and Germany to learn from each other and to accelerate the transition to a climate-friendly energy future at the local level.

Cities in the program share expertise and create model climate and energy solutions for implementation. The projects implemented through the program inspire further action and build momentum for wider action and policymaking.

For example, the Program directly contributed to enacting a new Minnesota energy policy in 2023 that established a 100% Carbon-Free Energy Standard for electric utilities.

CSM participant and Olmsted County Commissioner David Senjem said via a press release, “There is absolutely no question in my mind that the CSM program has influenced sustainability in a positive way across Minnesota.” He also credits CSM for sticking with relationships over time and putting in the “hard work” to move the needle on energy and climate.

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton echoed these sentiments via the same press release: “This program has helped the City of Rochester. We have benefited from the programs and our wonderful relationship with Muenster, Germany! Our movement to be more sustainable and our move to cleaner energy is a direct result of this program and our learning from our international friends and partners.”