Abby Finis has been a recognized leader in local climate action and renewable energy development in the Midwest. In her recent years at GPI, she worked with cities like Saint Paul, Duluth, and Red Wing in Minnesota and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to develop local climate action plans. And she’s developed an innovative approach that focuses on near-term action through Climate Action Work Plans.
Abby recently moved on from GPI, and we wish her well! I interviewed her one last time about what she’s learned and what keeps her hopeful in the face of our changing climate.
You’ve been at GPI for seven years and been part of fostering cities’ growing action—not just goal-setting—on clean energy and climate. What challenges were cities focused on earlier in your career, and have those changed in recent years?
Cities were focused on broader sustainability actions (like Minnesota’s GreenStep Cities), with only a handful focused specifically on climate change.
While there were cities—and certainly citizens—thinking about climate, there was less city staff expertise and political will from elected officials.
You want that trifecta of an engaged citizenry calling for climate action, staff who have the technical capacity and knowledge, resources, and willingness to move forward, and then elected officials who support it as well.
We’re starting to see that more and more in cities across the state and the country.
What would you say is the biggest challenge cities face now in taking action?
Adequate funding is one major challenge, of course. But a bigger challenge might be inertia. Climate change is such an overwhelming issue that has to be addressed across city government—such as in service delivery, infrastructure, land use, and development. There’s so much inertia in the way cities function that makes it hard to course correct.
We fundamentally have to change that. It will take time to get to that tipping point where these actions start to have an aggregate impact.
Do any stories stand out about how a community came together around local solutions for climate change, resilience, etc.?
What stands out to me is the movement of the younger generation coming together to call on their cities to do something on climate.
I’m thinking particularly of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, where you had students pushing the city council to adopt a climate action plan. The city not only adopted the plan, but has continued to demonstrate leadership in this space by investing in implementation and pushing the envelope on what is possible.
I also think of the youth in Grand Marais, a small town on the shores of Lake Superior, who called on the city council to create a climate action plan. Olya Wright, an 11-year-old at the time with the Nordic Nature Group and iMatter Youth, led the effort.
There are stories of everyday people developing citizen plans, like in Northfield and Duluth. It’s great to see them getting support from their cities.
You’ve said that “to scale up climate solutions more quickly, we have to rethink our approach to how cities do climate action planning.” How should cities shift their approach?
As I mentioned early, there’s an inertia in the way we’ve been operating city governments. One of the ways that needs to change is that cities need to integrate climate as a lens through everything we do. Climate, environmental justice, racial equity, those all go hand-in-hand in the solutions.
We have to think about those issues more intentionally in comprehensive planning—that’s a long-range plan that many communities have. Cities can use those plans to embed climate and environmental justice in long-term policies.
Budgeting is also a powerful way to address climate change. Budgets are a reflection of cities’ values. And it’s important to include climate in general budgeting and capital budgeting processes.
Cities need to ask questions about climate impacts when thinking about infrastructure. Are you thinking about where you can reduce emissions as you’re planning projects? Are you thinking about how projected rainfall might impact your stormwater infrastructure and are there better approaches to manage increased precipitation?
The last piece is the regulatory piece. For example, zoning ordinances can be a barrier to climate action. So, finding those barriers, removing them, and looking for opportunities to enable better climate action.
What’s the next step after incorporating climate in planning?
You have to start building projects and decide where to focus implementation—what you want to do in the next 1-5 years and how do you get the community on board?
Having a foundation that aligns city policies, budgets, zoning ordinances, etc., makes it a lot easier to do those projects.
Climate impacts are felt locally. So, it makes sense that local leaders are ready to take near-term action. Have you seen a greater sense of urgency at the local government level in recent years?
A: Yes, and a major example of that is the number of cities in Minnesota that recently declared climate emergencies.
Cities are feeling a greater sense of urgency—they’re seeing climate change through local impacts, including increased infrastructure costs. These are communities that are already behind on infrastructure maintenance and updates. They’re asking what these impacts look like for vulnerable populations.
Cities are seeing their global responsibility to lead on climate and curb emissions.
When we have this demonstration of over 20 cities and one county passing these climate emergency resolutions, that can be powerful and have a ripple effect. Other cities are taking notice, passing their own resolutions.
They’re also noticing the barriers they face and asking for help from the federal and state government to really make progress.
What’s the biggest shift you’ve seen at the local government level in thinking about climate change impacts?
Metro cities and larger communities tend to have climate action plans. But we’re starting to see a growing concern about climate change in smaller, more rural communities.
For example, the severe drought and wildfires we experienced in Minnesota have shifted people’s understanding of what we need to prepare for. We have a unique ecosystem on the north shore of Lake Superior, and those communities are dealing with erosion, wildfires, and natural resource management issues.
There’s a growing awareness that no one is untouchable from climate impacts.
There’s been a major shift from people thinking, “this can’t happen here,” to a recognition that climate change is happening, and we all need to start preparing. That’s as true for Minnesota as it is for anywhere else in the world.
GPI’s Communities Program has been equipping cities with tools to go from goal-setting to implementation. This includes helping them access data for better decision-making, such as how to equitably develop clean energy and efficiency.
Do you have an example of how access to better data can help or helped a community in their planning?
Climate planning tools have advanced, and data is more available for communities.
We’re lucky in Minnesota to have the Regional Indicators Initiative and the Metropolitan Council. They support greenhouse gas inventories and scenario planning tools. Cities can look at the impact of strategies in their communities based on their specific data.
There are also national tools, such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s State and Local Planning for Energy (SLOPE) Platform.
One new tool I want to highlight is on the resilience side—the Growing Shade tool hosted by the Metropolitan Council. It’s a tool that brings together demographic data with tree canopy information. The tool highlights where environmental justice communities are and where urban heat island impacts will be exacerbated.
When you’re thinking about tree planting or canopy preservation, you can prioritize based on where vulnerable populations are living in areas with low tree canopy. Often these are historically marginalized communities that have endured racist housing policies and practices as well as under-investment from cities.
It’s important for cities to engage these communities and work with residents on tree planting and care in ways that are meaningful and meet their desires. The tool can help ensure people have equitable access to this natural resource that provides cooling, takes up carbon, cleans the air, and simply makes us happy.
These kinds of tools illustrate the importance of thinking equitably about solutions and how and where we implement them.
Small- and medium-sized cities have fewer resources to address climate impacts. What tools do they have to become more resilient to future impacts, including for their most vulnerable residents?
Smaller community governments are closer to their residents. They have that social cohesion that may happen in a larger city at the neighborhood level. What we’ve seen in the past—and what studies have shown—is that these social networks are incredibly valuable during extreme events.
For example, when the Chicago heat wave happened in 1995, they found that some of the vulnerable populations fared better as compared to others due to strong social cohesion. Or think about the images in the Red River Valley where everyone is coming out to pitch in and set up sandbags for flood preparation.
It’s really important to think about what those social ties are. We shouldn’t underestimate the power of social cohesion and community networks.
How well-equipped are cities to address climate change?
From the standpoint of funding and capacity, cities are under-resourced.
There are new federal resources becoming available through the infrastructure bill, and states like Minnesota are looking at funding. So, there are major initiatives coming that can support cities of all sizes, but we are going to need a lot more support if we are going to get on track.
That’s especially true when thinking about the infrastructure funding coming from the federal government.
Our colleague, Lola Schoenrich, has said that you shouldn’t underestimate the power of small- and medium-sized cities to impact clean energy. What can other entities like larger cities and businesses learn from smaller communities’ efforts?
A really good example is the Community Climate Action Plan in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That plan is rooted in what the community can do to work together toward meeting the city’s goals.
The city was very intentional in making sure that residents and small- and medium-sized businesses were key parts of the solution. They have major industry there—they brought in leaders from those companies, and they’re committed to helping the city meet its goals.
That kind of a “we’re all in” approach to climate action is something that larger cities can look to. Cities are home to major corporations with their own climate goals. You can look at where the opportunities are for cities and companies to work together.
You also have to drill down to the neighborhood level in larger cities. Cities can work with neighborhoods almost as if they’re smaller towns. You can allow them to chart their own pathway. What’s their vision for their neighborhood, and how can the city help them realize it?
I really like the examples in Denver and Boulder, where they do accelerated neighborhood climate action. They’re not telling neighborhoods what they’re going to do; they’re asking what neighborhoods want and how the city can be supportive.
There are innovative approaches happening in large and small cities, and they can learn from each other. But make sure to not overlook the smaller communities—they may not let barriers get in the way as much as larger cities
What makes you hopeful for the future?
I’ve been working on a podcast, City Climate Corner, and we’re talking mainly to small- and medium-sized cities about what they’re doing on climate action.
Staff in those cities are sharing work that’s impressive. Their innovations will have ripple effects for other cities when they show success. We’re also learning about seemingly small projects that can have a big impact. For example, recurring street flooding was mitigated through a strategically placed rain garden by a youth group in Duck Hill, Mississippi.
As these efforts start to add up, we’ll hit a tipping point where cities are planning more for resilience, improved quality of life, and active living. All of the actions that help us achieve that also reduce emissions.
The biggest transformation for me is that I was initially very driven by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but I’ve come around to focusing on the benefits as the primary goal. How we can focus on what we want for our community’s future.
So, for me, that’s what I’m hopeful about—this move toward envisioning a more livable, enjoyable, and equitable planet where we reduce emissions at the needed speed and scale.
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