Scaling the Twin Cities Climate Resiliency Initiative

Abstract

Recognizing that Minnesota’s communities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, the Green Cities Accord (GCA) developed a program to expand the urban tree canopy in the Twin Cities area with the use of carbon offsets. By planting trees, urban communities experience the many benefits of the canopy, including rain interception, air pollution reduction, urban heat island impact reduction, and carbon sequestration. Now that the program has been established, and many trees have been planted, GCA is working to sell Carbon+ Credits from the City Forest Credits registry to corporate partners and enlisted a student team at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs to conduct market research and develop recommendations to improve the organization’s Outreach strategy. Today, offsets face many criticisms, leading many corporations to be hesitant to purchase them as part of their sustainability initiatives. To determine how GCA might better market its credits to potential partners, our capstone student team conducted a research process to learn more about the Twin Cities sustainability landscape and the current state of the carbon offset market. Building on these insights, we’ve identified an outreach strategy to better market the program to potential partners. Analyzing sustainability data from 75 MN corporations, we learned that only about a third of Twin Cities corporations had public ESG plans or reports that identified clear climate action goals. Though each business takes a unique approach to sustainability, the primary focus of ESG plans seems to be on operational energy management. Across industries, many corporations are looking across their supply chains to address Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions. Business-to-business organizations also incorporated their clients’ carbon reduction efforts into ESG plans. Within ESG plans, many corporations have established carbon reduction targets or net-zero goals, with implementation timelines ranging from 2025 to 2050. With these deadlines quickly approaching, the offset market is growing and expected to continue doing so particularly the quality-focused market. Corporations and consumers increasingly demand transparency and accountability to ensure the quality of purchased offsets. To address these concerns, GCA could work to better emphasize the quality of their accredited offset registry and communicate the Carbon+ credit accounting and evaluation process. Offsets were mentioned in about 17% of plans reviewed, suggesting that some corporations are considering offsets as an essential part of their sustainability portfolio as they head toward net zero emissions. To build awareness and interest in GCA’s offset program, we recommend that GCA: ● Utilize direct interpersonal outreach, engaging corporate sustainability leaders face-to face, to articulate the unique value proposition of the Carbon+ Credit. ● Improve and refine their digital marketing approaches by employing more strategic messaging on their website, addressing common criticisms and FAQs, and implementing a more targeted approach to social media engagement. ● Leverage connections through industry coalitions and trade associations to reach a broader subsect of potential credit buyers, maximizing the total effect of marketing. ● Highlight success stories from projects and partnerships by integrating quotes, impact metrics, and third-party validation from corporate partners. As they implement some of the recommendations above, GCA must continue to track and evaluate the effects of its outreach efforts. The organization must establish SMART Goals, performance indicators, and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the approach.