Omaha’s roadmap to climate action and community resilience
On December 17, 2024, the Omaha City Council adopted the Climate Action and Resilience Plan as part of the City’s Master Plan. The Plan aims to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions by 52% by 2035 and reach net zero (90% reduction) by 2050, while making Omaha more resilient to the flooding, severe storms, and extreme heat our community already faces.
This Plan was shaped for Omaha, by Omaha. Over 18 months, a 100-person planning team of residents, businesses, nonprofits, utilities, and public agencies worked alongside more than 4,530 community members and 50+ partner organizations through surveys, pop-up events, community meetings, and listening sessions. The result is a research-based plan designed to save money for households and businesses, improve health, and protect the residents most affected by a changing climate.
Related Documents
The City of Omaha is embarking on a journey to build climate resilience and strive for a more sustainable future. To begin that journey, we’ve compiled data to help us understand where we are and how we might achieve our greenhouse gas (GHG) and resilience goals. These Baseline Documents summarize the preliminary findings and are designed to support the City’s collaborative, multi-stakeholder planning team and the stakeholder focus groups in their work. The potential goal suggestions included in these documents are preliminary only and created solely to facilitate the exploration process.
Baseline Assessment
Vulnerability Assessment
GHG Inventory
Ground Cover Study
Renewable Potentials Study
Glossary
If you’ve ever wondered what the terms carbon sequestration or greenhouse gases actually mean, we’ve got you covered!
Greenhouse gases
Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide
Climate mitigation
Actions to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and stabilizing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
Climate adaptation
Changes made to adapt to the current and projected climate
Carbon sequestration
Strategies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in a solid or liquid form
Climate-ready
A city that is climate-ready is taking steps to reduce carbon emissions and be resilient to changes in its climate
Carbon neutrality
A balance between carbon emissions and carbon absorption, resulting in no net release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere
Climate resilient
A climate resilient community has lowered carbon emissions and has infrastructure and policies in place to handle changes to its climate
Climate justice
Solutions for climate change that represent, include, and protect communities that are more vulnerable to its effects