Welcome to the Westchester County Climate Action Planning Institute!
On this site you will find information related to your 16 month CAPI program. At any time, if you are not sure what you should be working on, you can refer back to this web site for guidance.
- For CAPI programmatic assistance, please contact Mary Lambert: mlambert@hudsonvalleyrc.org, 845-595-8684.
- For CAPI technical assistance: please contact Kale Roberts at iclei-usa@iclei.org, 845-464-3682.
Background
The Climate Action Planning Institute (CAPI) is a facilitated, collaborative working group through which a select group of local governments develop individual government operations greenhouse gas emissions inventories (“GOGHGI”) and government operations climate action plans (“GOCAP”).
The Hudson Valley Regional Council (HVRC) in partnership with ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), will be leading the Westchester CAPI program. Nine municipalities will together take a collaborative approach to climate mitigation and help bring State funding to the region for important projects.
Participating municipalities:
- Westchester County
- City of Peekskill
- City of White Plains
- Town of Ossining
- Village of Hastings-on-Hudson
- Village of Irvington
- Village of Ossining
- Village of Pelham
- Village of Tarrytown
Cohort Meeting Schedule: 2023 Westchester CAPI Cohort Meeting Dates: February 1st, March 2nd, April 4th, May 2nd, June 1st, July 13th, August 3rd, September 7th, October 5th, November 2nd, and December 7th.
Date: Thursday, February 2nd
This in-person Kick-off meeting covered the basics of a government operations greenhouse gas inventory and government operations climate action plan, as well as an overview of the CAPI process, timeline, and benefits. It was an opportunity to meet the other cohort participants and engage with and ask questions to your CAPI leaders. Project management and match tracking were covered. Click here for more detail.
Date: Thursday, March 3rd
This meeting covered Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventories (GOGHGI) including emissions factors, emission scopes, global warming potentials, and data sectors. The main focus was the data gathering process by sector, including a more detailed review of how to collect data for each sector and the sample data request templates. Climate Smart Communities (CSC) requirements and outreach and engagement planning were also covered. Click here for more detail.
Meeting #3: Making Sense of Data
Date: Thursday, April 6th, 1 pm - 3 pm
This meeting covered a sector-by-sector deep dive into ICLEI's excel workbook and a synopsis of data related questions and answers that have come up to date. Also covered: an overview of climate communications, i.e. effective ways to package and communicate climate-related data for broader audiences. Lastly, the municipalities shared experiences, challenges, and lessons learned in small group cohort breakout rooms. Click here for more detail.
Meeting #4: ClearPath Deep Dive
Date: Thursday, May 4th, 1 pm - 3 pm
This meeting focused on understanding ICLEI's Clear Path tool for creating a municipal greenhouse gas inventory. The Town of North East and the City of Beacon also presented on their Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventories and how they informed their Government Operations Climate Action Plans. The meeting also included small group breakout sessions and a review of recent frequently asked questions and answers. Click here for more detail.
Meeting #5: Inventory Report Deep Dive
Date: Thursday, June 1st, 1 pm - 3 pm
This meeting covered tips and guidance for ICLEI's government operations GHG inventory (GOGHGI) report template, as well as a review of example GOGHGIs from neighboring municipalities. The municipalities discussed progress in breakout rooms and frequently asked questions and answers from office hours were shared. Click here for more detail.
Meeting #6: Inventory Report Presentations and Climate Action Planning Basics
Date: Thursday, July 13th, 1 pm - 3 pm
We heard inventory presentations from the City of White Plains and the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson. Emissions Forecasting, Target-Setting, and Stakeholder Engagement in Climate Planning were also covered in this meeting. Click here for more detail.
Meeting #7: Inventory Report Presentations and High Impact Action Brainstorming and Prioritization
Date: Thursday, August 3rd, 1 pm - 3 pm - In-person
Address: Westchester Board of Elections, 25 Quarropas St., 2nf fl., White Plains, NY
We heard inventory presentations from the City of Peekskill, The Town of Ossining, the Villages of Irvington, Pelham and Tarrytown. Cohort participants engaged in a high impact action brainstorming and prioritization exercise. Click here for more detail.
Meeting #8: Inventory Report Presentations and Emissions Forecasting in ClearPath
Date: Thursday, September 7th, 1 pm - 3 pm
We heard inventory presentations from Westchester County and the Village of Ossining. Caroline from ICLEI presented on the ClearPath emissions forecasting wizard to forecast a Business as Usual (BAU) forecast and to model emissions from high impact actions. Mary walked through the Public Outreach and Engagement Planning doc and reviewed frequently asked questions on the inventory report.
Shared Resources
Background documents
- Local Government Operations Protocol for GHG accounting and reporting (2010)
- New York Community Regional GHG Inventory Guidance (2015)
- Lets Talk Communities and Climate: Communication Guidance for City and Community Leaders
- ICLEI Climate Communications: Elevate Your Community's Story
- 6 Ways to Make Climate Communications Less Awful
- Background on CAPI Adaptation Component
Program resources for CAPI Part 1 (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory)
- CAPI Cohort Capabilities Guide
- ICLEI Project Plan Template
- ICLEI Excel Data Workbook
- CAPI Questionnaire
- CAPI Checklist and FAQ
- ICLEI Inventory Report Template
- Inventory Results Presentation Template
- Checklist for Inventory Report
Program resources for CAPI Part 2 (Climate Action Plan)
- ClearPath Climate Planner's Forecasting and Planning Wizard Demo Video
- Wizard Guidance for Westchester County for the ClearPath Forecasting Tool
- Public Outreach and Engagement Plan template
- Stakeholder Meetings Guide
- ICLEI Climate Action Plan Template
Examples of Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventory Reports
- New Castle Government Operations GHG Emission Inventory Report (2005 baseline)
- City of Beacon 2019 Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- Village of New Paltz 2019 Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- San Mateo County 2005 Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Inventory
- City of Somerville Government Operations and Community GHG Inventory Report
- Philipstown Government Operations GHG Emissions Inventory (2020 baseline year)
- The Village of Rhinebeck Inventory of Government Operations Greenhouse Gas Emissions for FY 2019
Examples of Government Operations Climate Action Plans
- Town of Gardiner, NY (16 pages)
- Town of Saugerties, NY (24 pages)
- City of Tempe, AZ (61 pages)
- City of Columbia, MO (65 pages)
Visual Aids: Infographics Templates and Data Visualizations
Cohort Graphics
Westchester CAPI has been funded in part by the Climate Smart Communities Grant Program, Title 15 of the Environmental Projection Fund through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.