About

Mission

The mission of the Green Ribbon Commission is to accelerate the implementation of the City’s Climate Action Plan by convening, organizing, and enabling leaders from Boston’s key sectors.

History

The Green Ribbon Commission was launched in the fall of 2010 at the request of then-Mayor Menino with the core “theory of change” that by directly engaging the city’s key business and civic leaders in the design and implementation of the City’s climate adaptation and mitigation strategy, the GRC could accelerate change and match the scale of transformation to the scope of the challenge.

Over the last decade, the work has resulted in critical contributions to the development of the City of Boston’s climate strategy. Climate Ready Boston is now leading to direct investment in resilience projects and regulations to guide future development; and the Carbon Free Boston report is helping to shape the city’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, with a strong emphasis on ways to achieve equitable outcomes for socially vulnerable populations in Boston.

Along the way, the GRC has built a robust civic leadership network that is informed, engaged and connected on climate action. Sector working groups— Commercial Real Estate, Health Care, Higher Education and Cultural Institutions—have brought together sector leaders to share best practices, advance the cohort of “first movers” aligned with the City’s climate goals, and weigh in on important policy directions. The GRC has also been recognized as a “best in class” public-private partnership in the service of climate action, and the model informed the design of C40’s recently launched global CityBusiness Climate Alliance initiative.

Strategic Plan

As the GRC entered its second decade, it engaged in the strategic planning process to determine where to go from here, and how the GRC network can add the most value in this next phase of city climate work.

This strategic plan lays out our mission, vision, theory of change, values, key action areas and priority projects for the next five years.

Vision

Boston is a global leader in climate resilience and emissions reductions and helps demonstrate the “art of the possible” in ways that inspire others to aggressive action.

Members

Most Green Ribbon Commission members serve on at least one of five different working groups. Working groups are focused either on solving problems and spurring action in specific sectors or on cross-cutting approaches that address key climate issues across the City and region.