Empowering local leaders to drive climate action

Mayors, community leaders, and civic organizations are the changemakers of their cities, dedicated to building a safe and healthy future for generations to come.

At Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), we empower local leaders with the resources and support needed to drive impactful climate action through infrastructure, economic progress, environmental justice, and a clean energy transition.

Contact the local climate action team

Training Opportunities and Webinars

Registration is now open for the 2025 Climate Action Training Program. This initiative will guide mayors through the process of building roadmaps to reduce emissions, navigating funding strategies and aligning political leadership with technical action. Register now through May 16 here.

This program is a partnership between Environmental Defense Fund and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability.

EDF is collaborating with mayors to host future trainings on climate action, electric vehicles and more.

Resources and tools for local officials

These planning and monitoring tools can serve as alternatives to federal resources that are no longer available.

Climate action and resilience planning

• Toolkit for Local Climate Action
  • Developed in partnership with the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) and Elemental Impact, the 2024 Toolkit for Local Climate Action provides a roadmap for developing robust climate action and resilience plans, including examples that showcase how to prepare your community for extreme weather events.
• Climate Vulnerability Index
  • The U.S. Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) uses 184 data sets to rank over 70,000 census tracts, helping local leaders identify climate risks and prioritize actions to strengthen community resilience. The CVI incorporates datasets from EPA’s EJScreen and CEQ’s Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool, which are no longer available.

Public health and pollution monitoring

• Mayor’s Roadmap for Lead Pipe Replacement
  • The Mayor’s Roadmap for Lead Pipe Replacement lays out six key priorities to guide mayors and city leaders through replacing their community’s lead pipes in 10 years.
• Lead Service Line Replacement Program Map
  • EDF’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program Map highlights over 200 communities working to replace lead service lines, showing progress and areas of inaction. Local leaders can use the map to see if their community has a replacement program.
• Chemical Exposure Action Map
  • EDF's Chemical Exposure Action Map visualizes industrial chemical exposures and health impacts in communities, helping local leaders advocate for safeguards that are truly protective of public health.
• Petrochemical Air Pollution Map
  • The Petrochemical Air Pollution Map shows where petrochemical air pollution is coming from, who’s responsible for it and where it’s driving the greatest health risks.
• Air Quality Data Directory
  • This tool orients users to the world of air emissions data related tools. By applying filters to narrow down the many available datasets, advocates can identify which source(s) of data can help advance a goal or solve a specific problem.