Planning for Climate Change in Newton

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Mayor Fuller has made a commitment to preparing Newton for the impacts of climate change through both mitigation and resiliency planning. The City of Newton will work to honor this commitment with the creation of three separate climate planning documents. The first of these is a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan, a document which identifies Newton’s strengths and vulnerabilities in the face of Climate Change impacts and focuses on actions to increase resiliency in the face of climate change (e.g., heat events, flooding, more frequent and more intense storms). The second document is a Climate Action Plan, which focuses on efforts that the City can undertake to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The third document is an updated Hazard Mitigation Plan, detailing procedures for addressing large-scale natural disasters or other major hazards. Public engagement is critical to the success of these planning efforts.

How to Get Involved

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please send an email to climateplanning@newtonma.gov.
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Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan

Thanks to all of those who supported the creation of and attended the workshops for the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan! The plan was officially adopted by the Newton City Council on December 17th, 2018. The City has officially received approval from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and designation as an MVP Community. We are now eligible for grant funding to implement resiliency actions recommended in the CCVA Action Plan. Keep an eye out for updates about grant progress.

Please see the final Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan in documents library below.

Documents Library

Materials from October 29th Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Workshop

Climate Action Plan

Newton's Climate Action Plan was officially adopted on 11/18/19 as a part of the City's Comprehensive Plan. We look forward to working towards implementing the actions recommended in the plan to move Newton towards its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050!

All the materials from both workshop are available below and check-out our new photo gallery with snapshots from the event!

Documents Library

Newton's Final Climate Action Plan

Climate Action Plan 11-15-19

Citizen's Climate Action Plan

Citizen's Climate Action Plan (August 2019)

10-2-19 Presentation to the Zoning and Planning Committee

10-2-19 Presentation to Zoning and Planning Committee

Materials from March 21st Action Prioritization Workshop

Presentation from March 21st Workshop
Station Posters from March 21st Workshop
Photo Gallery (coming soon!)

Materials from December 5th Public Facilities Presentation and Discussion

Materials from October 23rd Kick-off Roundtable Discussion

Newton-Specific Documents

Documents Prepared by Climate Action Plan Intern

Articles of Note

Reference/Research Documents from Other Areas

Hazard Mitigation Plan

Every community in Massachusetts must have an up-to-date Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) that details the important chains-of-command and procedures needed during times of emergency. The current HMP, available below, has been approved by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)! We are now eligible for federal and state emergency management grant funding for improvement disaster resiliency systems and emergency response projects.