Local planners and sustainability staff are being asked to address complex climate issues faster than ever, often while juggling other responsibilities, limited capacity, and a growing set of expectations.
To better understand what is needed at the local level to support this work, GPI partnered with the American Planning Association Sustainable Communities Division (APA-SCD) and the Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund to survey practitioners across the country.
This work builds upon past surveys of sustainability professionals conducted by GPI and the APA-SCD and will inform the development of future resources and initiatives to support local climate efforts.
In this post, we will dive into high-level takeaways from the survey, including which climate topics are seen as most pressing, which barriers are currently most impactful, and which tools and resources practitioners say would make it easier to move from planning to action.
Who responded to the 2025 Climate Planning Survey
Responses came from practitioners working across a wide range of roles and sectors, with the strongest representation from local governments (45 percent), consultants (19 percent), and nonprofits (8 percent).
Planners and sustainability staff who responded spanned the spectrum of experience, from current students to practitioners with 30 or more years of experience. Respondents also represented a diverse array of specialties, including land use, parks and open spaces, food systems, social infrastructure, transportation, community and economic development, community engagement, and resiliency.
Emerging priorities and gaps in sustainability planning
To identify priority and emerging climate topics for planners and sustainability professionals, we asked respondents three related questions:
- What are the highest priority climate and sustainability topics for your community?
- Which of these topics has your community already addressed through ordinances, regulations, or other methods?
- Which topics does your community plan to address through ordinances or regulations in the future?
Several topics stood out from the responses.
The climate impacts of data centers
The rapid growth of data centers across the US has forced local governments to deal with complex questions of land use, infrastructure, and energy demand, often without a clear understanding of the long-term impacts or what a “good” deal entails.
For communities, the challenge is often balancing tax revenue and economic development opportunities with community goals, service capacity, and long-term sustainability considerations.
With thousands of new data centers scheduled for construction and AI continuing to drive demand, planners and sustainability staff want to understand the available tools to influence local impacts.
Energy affordability
Affordability and the deepening affordability crisis have been a hot-button topic across the country recently, so it should come as no surprise that energy affordability and its intersection with climate efforts are at the forefront of the minds of those working in the field.
Identified as a high priority for many communities, improving energy affordability through renewable energy deployment and energy efficiency can address multiple community needs with one solution. Respondents were particularly interested in reducing energy costs for those most burdened by them and ensuring the benefits of sustainability investments reach those who need them most.
Connected and automated vehicles
Sustainable transportation came up in several ways in the survey responses, both as a broad priority and through more specific, emerging issues.
Connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) and their potential sustainability and climate impact stood out as a topic that few communities have directly addressed, but one that is increasingly being considered. Importantly, related subjects such as reducing vehicle miles traveled, encouraging mode shift, and allowing community members to live car-lite lifestyles were also noted by respondents.
This indicates interest in planning for and regulating this technology in ways that advance community and sustainability goals, rather than simply accommodating the technology when it arrives.
What resources sustainability practitioners say they need most
When we asked what types of resources are most needed to help advance local climate goals, the answer was clear: practical examples from a range of community types.
Planners and sustainability professionals want resources that go beyond explaining what a topic is and why it matters. They want to see examples of how other communities achieved their goals and what it took to move projects across the finish line.
That includes the following:
- Example ordinance or policy language that can be adapted to local needs.
- Step-by-step guidance that includes who led the project, who was involved, how long it took, and what obstacles came up.
Respondents also noted that the most useful resources include examples from many types of places, from small and rural towns to large urban cities. This way, communities have precedents for what best practices look like in a context like their own.
The biggest barriers: Cost and capacity
Even when planners and sustainability professionals have clear direction on how to accomplish community goals and initiatives, implementation can still be challenging.
Respondents were asked to identify the greatest barriers to their work, with two standing out as the most pressing:
- Cost and a lack of funding were identified as the most common challenges, noted by more than three-quarters of respondents as a major barrier.
- Limited staff time and capacity was a close second, with respondents also highlighting a lack of internal coordination and buy-in as a related barrier.
Together, these challenges indicate that a “useful” tool should be time-saving, low-lift, and designed to reduce soft costs, especially when budgets are tight and capacity is stretched.
What’s next
With the support of the Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund, GPI is using these insights to develop example-based tools that will address the high-priority topics identified in the survey and include examples from a wide range of community contexts. Once complete, these resources will be made available to communities, free of charge.
Keep up to date with GPI by signing up for our monthly newsletter and stay tuned for the results of this work, including opportunities to participate in community cohorts on these topics.
