The village of Sodus is among the latest communities to be certified as part of New York State’s Climate Smart Communities program, according to an announcement made on Friday by the Governor. The certification highlights the efforts of 19 local governments that have taken significant steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.
To become a certified Climate Smart Community, local governments must accumulate points for planning and implementation actions that decrease greenhouse gas emissions and improve community resilience to the intensifying impacts of climate change. Recently, 18 new communities, including Sodus, met the criteria for recognition as leaders at the bronze level.
The interagency Climate Smart Communities program, established in 2009, offers guidance and technical support to local governments for locally-driven climate action. The first step towards certification is registering and pledging to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. So far, 377 local governments representing over 9.4 million New Yorkers have adopted the Climate Smart Communities pledge. The certification program was launched in 2014 to document and celebrate the accomplishments of communities taking climate action. With the addition of these new communities, New York now has a total of 118 certified Climate Smart Communities, with 10 at the silver level and 108 at the bronze level.
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