The Green Ribbon Commission accelerates Boston toward a climate safe, carbon free, equitable future
GRC Staff
GRC Appoints Rebecca Herst as Associate Director for Resilience
The GRC is pleased to welcome Rebecca Herst as our new Associate Director for Resilience, effective January 1, 2024. Having most recently served as the Director of the Sustainable Solutions Lab (SSL) at UMass Boston (UMB), Rebecca will help advance all aspects of the GRC’s work to accelerate climate action in Boston, with emphasis on coastal resilience and climate justice. She will also oversee the strategic alignment across the GRC’s six working groups and Climate Justice Initiative, leveraging the GRC’s unique convening role among its network of private sector and public sector leaders at the City and Commonwealth, as the pressure grows to meet 2030 climate goals. We are so excited to have Rebecca join the team.
Learn MoreCLIMATE JUSTICE
GRC and Embrace Boston Present: Our Shared History Report – Using Boston’s Climate Opportunities to Address Systemic Racism
Completed in collaboration with Embrace Boston, GRC’s “Our Shared History” report aims to open a dialog among a wide variety of stakeholders in Boston’s future who hope to use the shift to a resilient post-carbon economy as an opportunity to eradicate the harms of racism embedded in our built environment. The report addresses three main topics: patterns of racial injustice, climate inequities, and equitable climate action opportunities. We are now in an era of systemic transformation of Boston, compelled by climate change. In creating this report, the GRC hopes the historical account will serve to inform our shared vision of progress.
Read the full reportFranklin Field Geothermal Project
“This is really an example of a change in the paradigm, where we’ve thought of utility companies as on the other side, that we need to pressure and make sure we are moving as fast as possible and we’re going to continue to do that. But here is an example where when we come together, when we are really clear about the people we are serving and the future that we are trying to build, then, in fact, it’s a win-win all across the board.”
– Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
CCAP Program
Enrollment Open for 2024/2025 Collaborative CAP Program
Applications are now open for Boston area enterprises to enroll in the GRC’s 2024/2025 Collaborative Climate Action Planning (CCAP) cohort through May 30, 2024. Now in its fourth year, the GRC’s successful CCAP approach reduces barriers to taking organizational climate action and developing a strategy for compliance with the City of Boston’s Building Emissions Disclosure and Reporting Ordinance (BERDO). This program includes a peer learning community, trainings, and technical assistance to support companies and organizations in addressing mitigation, resiliency, and climate justice work. The fall’s cohort is open to organizations in any sector and provides a highly cost-effective way to begin organizational strategic climate planning.
Enroll nowREPORT CARD
Massachusetts Climate Report Card
Massachusetts Executive Agencies led by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) assessed the Commonwealth’s progress in meeting the state’s climate mandates and goals to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions and build resilience to climate change. Based on this assessment, the Healey-Driscoll Administration developed and released a Climate Report Card to inform Massachusetts residents of the progress the executive offices are collectively making to achieve climate goals and mandates. Overall, the report card found that Massachusetts has made significant progress and is well positioned for 2025, but a strong policy response to existing and emerging challenges will be needed to meet the Commonwealth’s ambitious 2030 targets.
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