Background on Climate Action Plans
The City of Boston created its first Climate Action Plan (CAP) in the early 2000s, with updates every several years subsequent. In each of these instances, BCAN members and our allies have been active participants in this process. The City’s Climate Action Plans have grown progressively more detailed and ambitious in the ensuing years. The most recent plan, completed in 2019, outlined a number of ambitious policies, many of which have since been passed into law. These include historic building decarbonization policies, like BERDO 2.0 and the Net-Zero Carbon Zoning Code. In this way, the CAP process is an important one for getting the City to commit to clear policy goals in an official way.
Current Climate Action Plan Update
In early March 2026, the City of Boston released the second draft of the 2030 Climate Action Plan (CAP). This follows the previous draft, which was released in August 2025 after months of stakeholder engagement. The City is accepting public comments on this plan until March 30, after which point the final plan will be released.
BCAN 