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Local Climate Action Program

Five Milestones

The DEP Energy Programs Office offered the first Local Climate Action Program (LCAP) July 2019 – June 2020, helping 20 municipalities across Pennsylvania that wanted to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Currently, 21 additional local governments are participating in LCAP 2020-2021. Having state and local governments lead by example on climate action in practices and assets is one of the 19 strategies recommended in the Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan.

Though the current 2020-2021 cohort is at full capacity, additional local governments may still participate via a free ICLEI subscription. Please see below for how the program works via a subscription. If your community is interested in the subscription option, please contact Heidi Kunka at hkunka@pa.gov or 717-214-4243.

LCAP is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program (SEP).

"Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: State and Local Government Resources and Best Practices" Online Forum

DEP hosted an online forum for LCAP participants on Wednesday, December 2. Thirty-five participants joined in a lively discussion of challenges and successes in climate action planning in their communities. They heard from DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell and staff at DEP, the Pennsylvania GreenGov Council, and the Departments of General Services and Conservation and Natural Resources on state resources that can help local climate efforts. For information and inspiration to help your climate action planning, view the recording.

How the Local Climate Action Program Works

Formal Cohort

Local governments are matched with college students across the state and trained by a DEP contractor, ICLEI USA, to develop GHG inventories and climate action plans.  Via a series of live training webinars and one-on-one technical assistance, ICLEI guides the student/local government teams in creating GHG inventories and climate action plans. 

Teams are provided access to ICLEI’s ClearPath inventory tool to create local GHG inventories in the fall. They undertake the climate action planning process in the spring. This includes community engagement via in-person workshops, virtual meetings, or online surveys.

ICLEI Subscription

Recognizing that local governments engage in climate action under varying time frames and thus may not be able to participate in the new cohort or would like to work at their own pace, DEP, via SEP funding, will also provide access to the ICLEI technical staff and ClearPath inventory tool via a special subscription. Utilizing the following LCAP resources, those communities can develop GHG inventories and climate action plans at their own pace.  Please note that there are two restrictions on the subscription: communities with a population of 500,000 or more are ineligible, as are communities that have had an active ICLEI membership since June 1, 2017. 

LCAP Resources

 Accordion ‭[1]‬


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LCAP Participants

July 2019 - June 2020

Climate Action Plans

Congratulations to the following local governments, who have finalized their Climate Action Plans! A plan is considered final when the draft has been presented to and approved by the local governing body. The next step is implementation.

 Accordion ‭[2]‬


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July 2020 - June 2021

 Accordion ‭[3]‬


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